Donald Trump Campaign Reportedly Forced To Cut Back On Spending As Joe Biden Builds Advantage
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is in financial distress, according to a Wednesday report from The Washington Examiner.
Citing multiple individuals briefed on the matter, the conservative-leaning publication reported that Trump and his allies are struggling to outraise Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, despite record-breaking investments.
A veteran GOP operative explained the Trump campaign’s strategy of spending large sums to solicit small-dollar donations has not exactly yielded satisfactory results.
“The working theory would be that you raise that money, even if you’re spending it at a furious clip, because you want to have the donors to go back to. This is the time that the strategy would pay off, and yet, they’re having to cut back on spending.”
“They set up a structure where it’s just spend, recklessly, even, to raise as much as we can, regardless of the cost of the dollar,” a Republican strategist familiar with the situation said.
In August, Biden and his allies raised $364.5 million, while Trump’s team raised $210 million. Notably, Biden hauled in $48 million 48 hours after formally announcing California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate.
This has, apparently, allowed the Democratic Party to dedicate resources to red-leaning states like Georgia and Arizona.
Some insiders believe the president’s decision to nominate a replacement for late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will further galvanize Democrats, leading to another surge in donations.
Overall, the Republican National Committee has hauled in $1.33 billion, compared to $990 million raised by Biden and the DNC. But, as one GOP strategist put it, the problem is not how much money the parties received from donors, “the problem has become that the Trump campaign has spent $1.13 billion.”
According to conservative operative Terry Sullivan, who managed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential bid, another issue for Trump is that he “has never had a great relationship” with big-money donors and bundlers.
Four years ago, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton outspent Trump by a large margin and still lost. In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, the commander in chief pointed to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election as evidence that fundraising prowess is not as important as some believe.
Trump said he would draw considerable donations if he “just started making phone calls to rich people,” but noted he does not like doing that.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, polling suggests Trump is trailing Biden in the key states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. According to CNN’s Harry Enten, this means the November election could result in a Biden “blowout.”
