When most of us were kids, we weren’t really doing anything that anyone would consider “newsworthy.” I actually got my picture in the paper as a kid, but that was because they were writing about the band my dad was in and I happened to be sitting on his lap. Like I said, I wasn’t doing anything newsworthy.
However, the same cannot be said for one boy from Austin, Texas. Whether you like what he’s doing or not, he’s certainly making an impression.
It wasn’t long ago that 7-year-old Benton Stevens didn’t have any political inclinations.
However, watching President Trump’s State of the Union Address on February 5 apparently made him curious about plans for the border wall.
As Benton’s mother, Jennifer told KXAN , “He wanted to know about the wall so we explained what it was about and he (Benton) was like ‘I want to raise money for the wall.’”
It’s unclear exactly how Benton’s parents explained the wall to him, but whatever they said obviously made him very excited.
As Jennifer tells it, he begged her to let him set up a hot chocolate stand to raise money for the border wall.
Soon, this turned into a family affair with his older brothers helping him make the signs and Jennifer helping him with the cocoa.
By Saturday, the stand was ready and the family set it up at a strip mall in the planned community known as Steiner Ranch.
The stand was there for about an hour and the response was mixed, to say the least. Benton made $231, but the nearby store’s owner drew complaints from passers-by about what the stand was supporting.
The stand wasn’t technically on the store’s property, but Benton’s father, Shane, elected to shut it down for the day anyway.
While the stand was up, someone posted a picture of Benton on Facebook and the debate began anew.
Although some of those involved criticized the Stevens family for using their son as a political tool, others applauded his actions and one person even matched what he had made that day.
Benton found the response even more exciting and wanted to set up the stand again.
To date, the sales and donations add up to about $1,400, but it didn’t come without incident.
As Jennifer told KXAN, “He was called a little Hitler yesterday. A guy pointed at him in his car and then he said that we didn’t like brown people. I don’t understand that at all.”
Obviously, Jennifer and that person have very different perspectives on the nature of the Border Wall.
However, Jennifer also said that Benton remains unfazed by the negative attention.
She said, “People think he’s brainwashed. Well, of course, he supports Trump because we do, and he hears how we talk and this and that. Call that brainwashing, but I call it parenting, because we instill our values in him.”
Jennifer is also confident that she can ensure the money raised actually goes towards the wall.
As she said, “We’re going to get it into the wall. There’s a GoFundMe page and we’re also part of the RNC and we’re pretty connected there so we will 100 percent make sure it goes towards the wall.”
Though depending on how deep those connections run, it may not be as simple as it sounds.
According to Business Insider, this type of donation usually falls under “Gifts to the United States,” which the federal government then uses however it sees fit.
And if they intend to give it directly to the Department of Homeland Security, that requires approval from Congress.
h/t: WIVB
