Trump and the Republican National Committee are, right now, facing a serious financial disadvantage in the early general election fight against Biden, new filings show
Former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are, right now, facing a serious financial disadvantage in the early stages of the general election fight against President Joe Biden and his $100 million war chest, new filings show.
But with Trump becoming his party’s 2024 presumptive presidential nominee earlier this month, he and the RNC are full steam ahead to make up for their fundraising lag — launching a joint operation and planning a high-dollar event with GOP megadonors.
February financial filings for the Biden and Trump campaigns and respective Democratic and Republican parties, released on Wednesday, illustrate how much more money Biden has raised and currently has on hand compared to Trump, funds that can be used toward advertising, staffing and organizing.
Financial filings also detail the extent to which Trump’s legal bills have eaten into the cash flow of some of his allied political groups.
He faces 88 criminal charges and multiple civil issues — including the threat of seizure of his assets related to a $464 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case.
He denies all wrongdoing across the various cases and is appealing the civil fraud ruling, with just days left to provide a bond to cover that penalty.
Entering March, Trump’s presidential campaign and the RNC only had $42 million and $11 million respectively in the bank, about half of the more than $97 million the Biden campaign and the DNC jointly reported having as cash on hand in their latest filings.
Trump’s campaign fundraising ramped up in February as the former president continued to secure victories in early GOP nominating contests, holding successful events in Florida and South Carolina and bringing in roughly $11 million last month.
But so far this election cycle, the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party have enjoyed a major advantage over their Republican counterparts of being able to raise money together, because Democrats formally decided to rally around Biden even before the nominating race.
That allowed them to not only share fundraising resources but also to accept high-dollar donations north of $800,000.
