Presidential Campaign Funding Updates

[essentialsaltes]

Biden continues fundraising momentum, with a $53 million February​

President Biden notched record fundraising receipts in February with donations from nearly half a million people, overcoming poor polling to end the month with $155 million in the bank.

“Every single dime that we raise right now is going to talk to voters, whether that is on TV in ads, whether that is online in ads, whether that is opening offices,” said Rufus Gifford, the campaign’s finance chair. “Our opponents are spending tens of millions of dollars on legal fees. This is a huge, huge, huge advantage that we do have, and we are excited about that.”

Trump political committees spent more than $55 million last year on legal fees defending the former president as he faces multiple lawsuits and four separate criminal prosecutions, according to campaign finance disclosures.

The February total of $53 million raised between Biden’s campaign and other party accounts eclipses the amount raised by President Barack Obama during the same period in 2012, but not when inflation is taken into account.

But Biden clearly eclipsed Obama in another measure. While Obama reported nearly 350,000 donors in February of 2012, the Biden campaign claimed 469,000 unique donors at the same point in the current cycle.

Trump cutting back on rallies to save money as cash shortfall hobbles campaign: report​

Faced with a massive shortfall in raising campaign cash compared to his presumptive opponent in the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump and his advisers have decided to cut back on his high-profile campaign rallies in an effort to not drain the coffers even more.

As the Times' Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher wrote, Trump has been holding donor meetings at Mar-a-Lago imploring supporters to increase their contributions.

Pointing out that the former president is reportedly "concerned about the fund-raising gap" with the sitting president, the Times report adds that big money donors are "hesitant" to throw more money at him fearing they will only be paying his legal bills.

"In a sign of the Trump orbit’s urgent need for cash, at least two donors who made seven-figure pledges to support Mr. Trump this year were nudged to see if they could cut an eight-figure check — meaning $10 million or more — instead, according to a person familiar with the request."

--
That's an interesting contrast. Biden is getting huge grassroots support from many donors. Trump is chasing after millionaires to dig deeper.

 

[Fantine]

What a deadbeat! He should pay for his own criminal defense.

You do the crime, it's on your dime.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Biden continues fundraising momentum, with a $53 million February​

President Biden notched record fundraising receipts in February with donations from nearly half a million people, overcoming poor polling to end the month with $155 million in the bank.

“Every single dime that we raise right now is going to talk to voters, whether that is on TV in ads, whether that is online in ads, whether that is opening offices,” said Rufus Gifford, the campaign’s finance chair. “Our opponents are spending tens of millions of dollars on legal fees. This is a huge, huge, huge advantage that we do have, and we are excited about that.”

Trump political committees spent more than $55 million last year on legal fees defending the former president as he faces multiple lawsuits and four separate criminal prosecutions, according to campaign finance disclosures.

The February total of $53 million raised between Biden’s campaign and other party accounts eclipses the amount raised by President Barack Obama during the same period in 2012, but not when inflation is taken into account.

But Biden clearly eclipsed Obama in another measure. While Obama reported nearly 350,000 donors in February of 2012, the Biden campaign claimed 469,000 unique donors at the same point in the current cycle.

Trump cutting back on rallies to save money as cash shortfall hobbles campaign: report​

Faced with a massive shortfall in raising campaign cash compared to his presumptive opponent in the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump and his advisers have decided to cut back on his high-profile campaign rallies in an effort to not drain the coffers even more.

As the Times' Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher wrote, Trump has been holding donor meetings at Mar-a-Lago imploring supporters to increase their contributions.

Pointing out that the former president is reportedly "concerned about the fund-raising gap" with the sitting president, the Times report adds that big money donors are "hesitant" to throw more money at him fearing they will only be paying his legal bills.

"In a sign of the Trump orbit’s urgent need for cash, at least two donors who made seven-figure pledges to support Mr. Trump this year were nudged to see if they could cut an eight-figure check — meaning $10 million or more — instead, according to a person familiar with the request."

--
That's an interesting contrast. Biden is getting huge grassroots support from many donors. Trump is chasing after millionaires to dig deeper.

So much for the self-funded campaign run by the billionaire not beholden to wealthy special interests.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Biden continues fundraising momentum, with a $53 million February​

President Biden notched record fundraising receipts in February with donations from nearly half a million people, overcoming poor polling to end the month with $155 million in the bank.

And now the Trump haul for February:

Election filings made public Wednesday showed former President Trump’s 2024 campaign brought in $10.9 million last month, while his joint fundraising committee raised nearly $11 million. His operation overall had about $42 million in cash on hand entering March.

 

[Fantine]

People are tired of paying the legal bills for his crimes.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump’s invite to major donors prioritizes the committee paying his legal bills over the RNC​

The unorthodox diversion of funds to the Save America PAC makes it more likely that Republican donors could see their money go to Trump’s lawyers, who have received at least $76 million over the last two years to defend him against four felony indictments and multiple civil cases.

 

[A2SG]

Considering Trump's legal team has said he can't pay the judgment against him (despite Trump himself saying he has enough cash to do it), and with DA James ready to seize his assets, at this point, Trump might have to win the White House in November.

He'll have no other place to live.

-- A2SG, then maybe he'll declare squatters' rights when his term is up....

 

[iluvatar5150]

Considering Trump's legal team has said he can't pay the judgment against him (despite Trump himself saying he has enough cash to do it), and with DA James ready to seize his assets, at this point, Trump might have to win the White House in November.

He'll have no other place to live.

-- A2SG, then maybe he'll declare squatters' rights when his term is up....

Then we'll have another thread about how libs in DC have made it so hard for landlords.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Biden’s fundraiser with Obama and Clinton nets a record high $25 million, his campaign says​

“Crooked Joe is so mentally deficient that he needs to trot out some retreads like Clinton and Obama,” [Trump campaign spox] said.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Biden’s fundraiser with Obama and Clinton nets a record high $25 million, his campaign says​

“Crooked Joe is so mentally deficient that he needs to trot out some retreads like Clinton and Obama,” [Trump campaign spox] said.

lol, as opposed to A-listers like Lee Greenwood, Ted Nugent, and the MyPillow guy.

 

[essentialsaltes]

"In a sign of the Trump orbit’s urgent need for cash, at least two donors who made seven-figure pledges to support Mr. Trump this year were nudged to see if they could cut an eight-figure check — meaning $10 million or more — instead, according to a person familiar with the request."

--
That's an interesting contrast. Biden is getting huge grassroots support from many donors. Trump is chasing after millionaires to dig deeper.

Trump tells billionaires he’ll keep their taxes low at $50 million fundraising gala​

Former President Donald Trump emphasized the importance of extending his signature tax cuts to some of the nation’s wealthiest political donors, according to a readout of his private remarks Saturday night provided by a Trump campaign official.

Trump appeared to try to square raising a record-breaking amount of donations from the nation’s elite — a set that included billionaires such as sugar magnate José “Pepe” Fanjul Sr., oil baron Harold Hamm and Johnson & Johnson heir Woody Johnson — with a political movement fueled by populist themes.

“People are just wanting change,” he told reporters as he arrived at Paulson’s home. “The rich people want it. Poor people want it. Everybody wants change.”

 

[NxNW]

Biden’s fundraiser with Obama and Clinton nets a record high $25 million, his campaign says​

“Crooked Joe is so mentally deficient that he needs to trot out some retreads like Clinton and Obama,” [Trump campaign spox] said.

You can't say they're not classy.

 

[essentialsaltes]

You know that needy friend who hits you up for money ten times a day....

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump operation asks Republicans who use him for fundraising to share the haul​

A memo from Trump's campaign managers asks anyone using his name, image or likeness to raise money to donate at least 5% of the proceeds to his fundraising committee.

The memo adds, "Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump’s campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations."

 

[essentialsaltes]

Millions more go to Trump legal expenses as Biden and Democratic Party expand campaign cash advantage​

Save America, the political action committee that has underwritten much of Trump’s legal expenses, spent nearly $3.7 million on legal-related expenses in March – nearly $3 out of every $4 it collected, according to a filing Saturday night with the Federal Election Commission. And the committee ended this month with an additional $886,000 in outstanding legal bills – most of which were owed to Robert & Robert, the firm that has represented Trump and his family in a business fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Save America has relied on tens of millions of dollars it has clawed back from a Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc., to help keep it afloat. The new filings show the super PAC sent another $5 million back to Save America in March – bringing its total refunds to $57.25 million.

But this source of money will soon run dry. The leadership PAC had donated a total of $60 million to MAGA Inc., and cannot seek more than that in refunds.

 

[essentialsaltes]

 

[essentialsaltes]

When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton simply replied, “Because that's where the money is.”

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign​

Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, as well as other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.

As Donald Trump sat with some of the country’s top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club last month, one executive complained about how they continued to face burdensome environmental regulations despite spending $400 million to lobby the Biden administration in the last year.

Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House.

Despite the oil industry’s complaints about Biden’s policies, the United States is now producing more oil than any country ever has, pumping nearly 13 million barrels per day on average last year. ExxonMobil and Chevron, the largest U.S. energy companies, reported their biggest annual profits in a decade last year.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump team throws out GOP plan and builds a ‘leaner’ 2024 operation ​

The new plan calls for fewer offices, less staff and a focus on new partnerships with outside groups — raising concerns among some Republicans.

Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign called itself a “juggernaut” in May of that year, on par with a planet-destroying “Death Star”

Trump’s 2024 campaign has traded Star Wars metaphors for talk of a “leaner” and “more efficient” operation, with less real estate, fewer employees and greater dependence on outside groups.

The shift comes as President Biden’s campaign and its allies, buoyed by incumbency, have been moving in the opposite direction, building a more expansive operation sooner than in 2020. Strategists for both major parties expect Democrats to raise and spend more than Republicans over the coming months, a dynamic that has been magnified by the significant legal costs Trump’s fundraising apparatus has absorbed to defend him in state and federal courts.

The situation has alarmed GOP officials in key states like Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, who have yet to receive promised funding, staff or even briefings on the new plans since the Trump team took control of the Republican National Committee in March.

[And we know that Michigan has had its own fundraising catastrophe.]

“In order to win close elections in Georgia, you have to have a ground game that emphasizes turning out early votes and absentee votes,” said Cody Hall, a senior adviser to Gov. Brian Kemp (R). “I have seen no evidence of them having any of that. The Trump campaign has a consultant in Georgia, but there is nothing else that I can see. … Everyone is generally concerned.”

The original RNC plan for the state of Georgia, reviewed by The Washington Post, called for hiring 12 regional field directors in April and 40 field organizers by the end of May, in addition to eventually opening 20 offices and a community center in the College Park, a mostly Black suburb of Atlanta.

“There is no sign of life,” said Kim Owens, a Republican operative and public relations professional in Arizona. “Especially in a state that Trump lost so closely last time, you’d expect to have more of a presence. I would think, ‘Let’s step it up.’ I think it’s a terrible mistake.”

In private conversations with both [current co-chair] Whatley and [fired RINO Ronna] McDaniel, Trump told them to not worry about getting out the vote since he could do it himself. He told them to “focus on the cheating.” Party leaders say they are planning a massive operation around “election integrity,” with tens of thousands of volunteers who will monitor precincts and vote-counting across the country.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Set didn't cost them anything at least.

Note also that several are wearing a Trump uniform of sorts: red tie, white shirt.

If I was in the jury, I would detest this overt messaging from audience members.