Donald Trump Lagged Far Behind Hillary Clinton in May Fundraising
Donald Trump lagged far behind Hillary Clinton when it came to fundraising during the month of May, the month he was declared the Republican party’s presumptive nominee and began to solicit money from the party’s high-dollar donors.
Trump raised just $3.1 million during the month, and he loaned his campaign an additional $2.2 million, according to the latest filings from the Federal Election Commission.
By contrast, Clinton raised $26 million, including $5.8 million from a joint committee with state and national parties.
When it comes to cash on hand, the gap is even more pronounced: Trump’s campaign reported $1.3 million, and Clinton’s campaign reported $42.5 million.
Trump has touted his ability to successfully run a much leaner campaign than his opponents during the primaries, as well as his ability to self-fund his race.
Throughout his race Trump has collected contributions individual donors, but May was the month that he started raising money from high-dollar financiers via Trump Victory, a joint committee that raises for his campaign, the Republican National Committee and state parties.
The Trump Victory kickoff event was on May 25 at the Los Angeles home of Thomas Barrack, the CEO of Colony Capital. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Trump’s now former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said that the event raised $6 million to $8 million, and that fundraising has picked up greatly since then. “The money is pouring in,” he said, noting that the bulk will go to the RNC to pay for campaign infrastructure.
Barrack was among the high-dollar donors to the RNC during the period, along with Guess Jeans co-founder Paul Marciano, nightclub mogul Sam Nazarian, and Southern California developers Donald Bren, Geoff Palmer and Doug Manchester.
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