/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f89cf3f0c8f22bbbae126c9/0x0.jpg?cropX1=1362&cropX2=4499&cropY1=413&cropY2=2378&w=1200&resize=1200,752&ssl=1 "Reversal Of Fortune: Trump Now Trails Biden By 4 Million Going Into Final Stretch")
Topline
The Trump campaign on Thursday revealed that both its September fundraising and its cash moving into October falls far short of the Biden campaign’s fundraising juggernaut, leaving them significantly out-resourced in the final stage of the campaign.
US President Donald Trump participates in an NBC News town hall event at the Perez Art Museum in … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
The Trump campaign raised just short of $248 million in September and had about a quarter billion dollars in cash coming into October, the campaign said.
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh announced the campaign’s fundraising in a tweet at 9:47pm Thursday as all eyes were fixed on Trump and Biden’s dueling town halls.
One reason for that timing may be that the Biden campaign bested them in September fundraising by $135 million, bringing in $383 million that month amid a surge in liberal donor energy from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and the first presidential debate.
The Biden campaign had $432 million in cash moving into October, giving them a $184 million cash advantage moving into the last month of the campaign – a full reversal of their $187 million cash deficit at the outset of the general election in April.
Nonetheless, Murtaugh projected confidence about their numbers – which are robust compared to Trump’s meager 2016 cash – asserting Trump “hits final stretch with strength, resources, record & huge ground game needed to spread message and secure re-election.”
Key Background
Trump overcame a severe cash deficit in 2016, with $34.7 million to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s $59.6 million going into October. Clinton also led Trump by nearly 7 points in the RealClearPolitics average at this point in 2016, slightly less than Biden’s 9-point lead in the RealClearPolitics average. Unlike Clinton, who dipped below Trump several times, Biden’s lead has stayed remarkably steady, having never dropped below 4 points and remaining above 6 points since June.
Big Number
$5 billion. That’s roughly the price tag of the 2020 presidential election, according to FEC data compiled by Forbes. That’s more than double the $2.4 million spent in the 2016 election, thanks in part to $1 billion spent by billionaire Mike Bloomberg and $400 million spent by fellow billionaire Tom Steyer in their unsuccessful Democratic primary runs.
Further Reading
Biden Announces $383 Million Raised In September, Beating His Record August Haul (Forbes)
How Joe Biden Became the Unlikeliest of Online Fund-Raising Superstars (New York Times)
Biden Campaign Raised $10 Million In Three Hours On Night Of First Debate (Forbes)
Democrats Net Half A Billion Dollars On ActBlue In Two Weeks Since Ginsburg Death (Forbes)
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f89cf3f0c8f22bbbae126c9/0x0.jpg?cropX1=1362&cropX2=4499&cropY1=413&cropY2=2378&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Reversal+Of+Fortune%3A+Trump+Now+Trails+Biden+By+%24184+Million+Going+Into+Final+Stretch){kind=link}