Heading into the month of April, Joe Biden was crushing Trump on the fundraising front.
Additionally, legal fees were draining Trump's funds, but Trump has made a significant turnaround in recent weeks.
Talking Points…
- Trump fundraising suffering heading into April
- Catching up
- Analysis
When the GOP primary field was full, Donald Trump struggled fairly badly in terms of fundraising. His campaign's payment of his legal expenses, draining most of the money that was coming in, made the problems even worse.
As the primary wound down, Trump was way behind the Biden campaign regarding fundraising and cash on hand. At the start of April, Joe Biden had about a 4:1 advantage over Trump and took out an ad buy that was more than Trump's campaign had in cash on hand at the time.
There were real concerns at the time that Trump would even be able to generate enough fundraising to compete with Biden, especially with four federal trials on deck and more legal bills that would need to be paid. Luckily for Trump, the fundraising has made a major turn in his favor.
Joe Biden had ended March with a big fundraiser that raised concerns for the GOP. However, Trump responded with a huge fundraiser of his own that raised more than $50 million in one day. That started off Trump for a huge month, averaging nearly $1 million a day for the rest of the month. Trump closed out April with a $76 million haul.
That followed a more than $65 million haul in March to help Trump close the gap between himself and Biden, although Biden is still in the lead regarding overall fundraising and cash on hand. Even so, the gap is getting smaller, with Biden now "only" having about a 2:1 advantage over Trump in terms of cash on hand.
Trump campaign officials now insist that money is no longer a concern, and that they will be able to raise enough to be able to compete with the Biden campaign. Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles stated:
"President Donald J. Trump is not only winning across every battleground state, but we are raising the resources necessary to deliver a victory in November.
"With half of funds raised coming from small dollar donors, it is clear that our base is energized. The Republican Party is united, and voters nationwide are ready to FIRE Joe Biden and elect President Donald J. Trump."
RNC chair Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump added:
"Our team will continue working every day to exceed expectations, raise the funds we need, and build an unmatched party infrastructure to prove that President Trump's momentum is unstoppable."
As you guys know, I never have a problem admitting when I get something wrong, and I really have to eat a plate of crow here. I honestly thought donors would have an issue with Trump spending the majority of the money on his legal bills, but as these cases have gone deeper, donors have stepped up and donated even more money to his campaign, helping Trump dig out of the massive hole his campaign had been in. If this keeps up, and there is no reason to believe that it won't, the campaign will be fine financially.
