Trump claims big fundraising edge but Republicans lag Democrats
With three weeks until Election Day, President Trump announced he’s got cash to burn on his campaign.
Trump bragged Tuesday that his campaign and Republicans are smashing records and are far outpacing their fundraising from 2016.
....Much of the money we have spent is on our ground game, said to be the best ever put together. I’ll let you know how good it is on November 3rd. Very expensive to do, but opportunity could be BIG! I will spend additional money if we are not spending enough!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2020
He’s right, up to a point. Trump’s reelection campaign has raised $1.3 billion so far, a river of cash that dwarfs his upstart effort from four years ago.
And WinRed the GOP’s new small-donor fundraising arm recently passed the $1 billion mark since it was founded last year. It raked in a record $600 million in the third quarter of 2020 alone.
So Trump and his GOP should be rolling in dough? Not quite.
Trump and the Republican National Committee have outraised Joe Biden and Democrats over the entire campaign, at least as of the end of September, when they held an overall lead of $1.3 billion to $990 million.
Trump says he’s plowed a lot of that cash into a powerful “ground game” that will prove its mettle on Election Day.
But there’s a big catch: Biden and the Democrats have been dramatically beating Trump in recent months.
In August, Biden raked in more than $200 million, dwarfing Trump’s $61 million, according to campaign documents.
Just this week, Jaime Harrison, the Democrat who is challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced a jaw-dropping $57 million haul in the third quarter. That windfall obliterated the previous record of $37 million set by Beto O’Rourke in his unsuccessful 2018 race against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The money to Democrats has heightened a sense of dread among Republicans. They’ve watched as developments this year — including a global pandemic, a faltering economy and the president’s diagnosis of COVID-19 — have expanded the map of competitive races on a presidential and congressional level.
With News Wire Service
