The Donald Trump campaign has just a few more weeks remaining to build up momentum in the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections, but things have gotten hairy in a financial sense, according to a new report.
NBC News reported Thursday evening that the Trump campaign only has $16 million worth of cash on hand, and is also $2 million in debt. The Hillary Clinton campaign, on the other hand, is looking to be in much better financial shape, with $62 million cash on hand and $111,000 worth of debts. The figures are based on Federal Election Commission documents current through October 19.
How bad is it for the Donald Trump campaign? According to NBC News , 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had $52 million on hand during the time he ran for president. Furthermore, it appears that Trump is spending much more than what he raises as he continues to confidently talk up his chances of winning the 2016 presidential elections. The NBC report noted that Trump has spent about $50 million on his campaign thus far, but has raised only $30 million.
Also adding to Donald Trump’s financial woes are the unimpressive figures for his Trump Victory fundraising initiative. NBC News said that Trump Victory stumbled in October, raising a mere $11 million and ending up with only $16 million in the bank. That’s a stark contrast to Democratic nominee Clinton’s Hillary Victory Fund. Her own fundraising initiative raised $70 million and had $82 million in the bank over the same period.
A separate report from CNN provides more hints at the purported financial crisis the Donald Trump campaign faces in the immediate run-up to the 2016 presidential elections. On Wednesday, the Republican nominee spoke to CNN , once again promising to donate at least $100 million of his own money into his campaign. And while he danced around the specifics of the donations, he seemed confident that he will live up to his Election Day promise.
“I will have over $100 million in the campaign, and I’m prepared to go much more than that,” Trump told CNN ‘s Dana Bash. “In the old days, you’d get credit: If you would spend less money and have victory, that would be a good thing. Today, they want you to spend money.”
A new fundraising report published on Thursday and cited by CNN , however, suggests otherwise for Donald Trump. He donated only $31,000 of his own funds in October, which goes against his earlier promises to ramp up the donations as the elections draw nearer. As of October 20, his donations are only at $56 million, including injections made during the primaries, with $16 million in reserves. That means he has less than two weeks to inject the remaining $44 million in order to live up to his promises.
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Advertising appears to be one of the main reasons why Trump hasn’t been donating as much to his campaign as he wants to, said the Washington Post in a report . Through the first 19 days of October, Trump has spent $19 million on television advertisements, and another $14 million on digital ads and consulting.
Another telling statistic suggesting a lack of financial wiggle room for Donald Trump and his campaign is the amount of money donated by the Republican candidate’s super PACs. According to the Washington Post , “more than a dozen” Trump super PACs were projected to raise less than $65 million combined by October 19. That’s a far cry from the record $175 million raised by Clinton’s primary super PAC alone.
With just 11 days remaining before Election Day, the chances of Donald Trump raising significant money for his presidential bid don’t look good. The Washington Post also cited its report from earlier in the week, suggesting that the Donald Trump campaign doesn’t have any “high-dollar fundraising events” formally scheduled in the last two weeks leading up to the elections. In contrast, the Clinton campaign has 41 events set up in that same time frame.
[Featured Image by Brian Blanco/Getty Images]
