| | | Trump, RNC Raised $207.5 Million After Election Day
The president, who is eyeing another run in 2024, got a fundraising windfall in opposing the 2020 results
Sidney Powell, a lawyer who has made unsupported claims of voter fraud, addressed supporters of President Trump in Alpharetta, Ga., on Wednesday.PHOTO: BEN GRAY/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/TNS/ZUMA PRESS
By
Julie Bykowicz
and
Chad Day
Updated Dec. 3, 2020 9:50 pm ET
President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have raised more than $207.5 million in the weeks since Election Day, his campaign said Thursday, as their claims of voting fraud have generated a financial windfall that could be deployed in future political ventures.
Despite an aggressive legal effort by the president’s attorneys in many states, there has been no evidence of widespread fraud and numerous federal and state officials have disputed the campaign’s fraud claims.
The size of the postelection fundraising haul between Nov. 4 and Nov. 23 is unprecedented for a losing candidate, much less an outgoing president. The fundraising total ensures Mr. Trump will have a considerable war chest at his disposal as a major figure in the Republican Party, especially as he contemplates a second White House bid.
Bill Stepien, Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, nodded at that ambition in a joint statement with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announcing the fundraising total, saying Mr. Trump “remains the leader and source of energy for the Republican Party.”
Most political committees, including for presidential candidates, must file postelection fundraising reports by midnight Thursday to the Federal Election Commission. Those reports will include more details about how the $207.5 million has been deployed.
That total is spread across the Trump campaign, two joint-fundraising committees, the RNC and a new political committee Mr. Trump set up in the days after the election.
Since Nov. 3, the campaign has been flooding supporters with email and text-message appeals for donations as Mr. Trump challenges the election outcome. States have moved forward in certifying victory for President-elect Joe Biden.
Portions of those donations initially went to retire campaign debt from the general election despite being billed as funding Mr. Trump’s legal challenges to the results in several swing states.
Trump Says He Will Leave White House if Electoral College Selects Biden
Trump Says He Will Leave White House if Electoral College Selects Biden
President Trump said he will leave the White House in January if the Electoral College backs Joe Biden, as he took questions from reporters for the first time since the election. Photo: Erin Schaff/Bloomberg News
The campaign’s first “election defense fund” pitch to small donors came the day after the election. One early text message said Mr. Trump was demanding a recount in Wisconsin. “Pres. Trump is calling on YOU to give us the resources to FIGHT BACK,” the message said. But the linked donation page noted in the fine print that half of any donation would be used for campaign debt retirement.
Within a week after Election Day, Mr. Trump had set up a leadership committee called Save America, to receive some of the new fundraising. Such committees can be used to finance travel and support other political candidates.
According to the fine print on the latest solicitations, the first 75% of each contribution goes to the Save America committee up to a $5,000 limit.
In the statement Thursday, Mr. Stepien indicated that Mr. Trump would continue portraying U.S. elections as corrupt as he raises money for future elections, including the 2022 midterms.
Recounts in swing states won by Mr. Biden, such as Georgia and Wisconsin, have found only small shifts in vote tallies that aren’t enough to change the outcome. Attorney General William Barr also said this week that the Justice Department hasn’t found evidence of widespread voter fraud that could reverse Mr. Biden’s election victory. |
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