Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had nearly three times as much cash in his campaign coffers than President Trump at the start of this month, according to the latest fundraising filings from both major party nominees.
The former vice president’s campaign had more than $177 million cash on hand as of Sept. 30, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday evening. Trump’s reelection campaign reported $63.1 million in the bank.
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Biden’s large fundraising advantage the past couple of months is fueling the disparity. Biden hauled in $281 million in September, more than three times the $81 million raised by the president. And Trump’s report indicates that his campaign spent more money than it raised in September.
Spotlighting the president’s cash disadvantage, Trump took a few hours out of his busy campaigning schedule over the weekend to headline a top-dollar fundraising event in California that aides told Fox News brought in roughly $11 million for his reelection bid.
President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Erie International Airport, Tom Ridge Field in Erie, Pa, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
But the president’s campaign emphasizes that they’ve got enough in their coffers to win the election.
“The Trump campaign has all the resources we need going into the home stretch of this election,” campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager highlighted in a statement on Tuesday night.
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And Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh tweeted late Thursday, after the campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) released their combined fundraising figures, that “President Trump hits final stretch with strength, resources, record & huge ground game needed to spread message and secure re-election.”
Those numbers showed the Trump campaign and the RNC with a combined $251 million in the bank as of the end of September. A day earlier the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported a combined $432 million cash on hand.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak during a campaign event at Riverside High School in Durham, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The financial advantage has allowed Biden’s campaign to vastly outspend the Trump team last month in the ad wars. Biden’s campaign spent nearly $148 million in September compared to $56 million for Trump’s team, according to figures from Advertising Analytics, a top ad tracking firm.
While campaign cash is a crucial metric, money isn’t everything. Four years ago, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton outraised and outspent Trump, and still lost the race for the White House.
“As Hillary Clinton proved when she outspent us 2-to-1 in 2016, no amount of money can buy the presidency – voters have to be enthusiastic about casting their ballot for a candidate, and that’s only happening for President Trump,” Zager noted.
And she emphasized that the Trump campaign is “running a comprehensive campaign that incorporates our massive ground game, travel to key states, and ads on digital, TV, and radio.”
The Trump campaign has spotlighted in recent months that their large ground organization in the key battlegrounds – which was assembled over the last couple of years – is light-years ahead of the organization built by the Biden team the past seven months.
The president earlier this week appeared to downplay the fundraising deficit. Trump told supporters at a campaign rally on Monday in Arizona that he could be “the greatest fundraiser in history” if he tapped into the business sector. The president explained that he’s avoided doing so because, he says, he would be “totally compromised” by the donors.
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The president told his supporters, “All I have to do is call up the head of every Wall Street firm, head of every major company, the head of every major energy company, ‘Do me a favor, send me $10 million for my campaign.’ ‘Yes, sir.’ They say the only thing is, ‘Why didn’t you ask for more, sir?’”
Fox News’ Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.
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