Republican donor Stanley Chera, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has died of coronavirus, CNN reported Sunday afternoon.
Chera was a New York real estate mogul who co-founded Crown Acquisitions. From 2016 to 2019, he donated a total of $402,800 to Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and Trump Victory, organizations dedicated to supporting Trump’s presidency, according to Federal Election Commission records.
According to CNN, Chera’s Crown Acquisitions inked a deal with now-Trump son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s firm The Kushner Companies and private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Crown Acquisitions and Carlyle Group took a stake in the retail portion of the building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City, which was owned by Kushner Companies.
Last November, Chera introduced Trump at the New York City Veteran’s Day Parade, calling the president “my dear friend.”
Trump called out Chera at a 2019 rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, describing him as “one of the biggest builders and real estate people in the world.”
“And he’s a great guy and he’s been with me from the beginning,” Trump said of Chera.
Stanley Chera was in his late 70s.