Trump campaign raises record $46 million in 4th quarter
Bernie Sanders raises $34.5 million; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced Friday that their network of fundraising arms pulled in $154 million in the fourth quarter and raised nearly a half-billion dollars combined in all of 2019.
A day earlier, only the Trump campaign reported their figures which, alone, were more than any other Democratic presidential candidate's. The president’s re-election campaign said Thursday they raked in $46 million in the last quarter of 2019, starting the election year sitting on a nearly $103 million war chest.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN BLOWS PAST 2020 DEMS WITH LATEST FUNDRAISING HAUL, SITTING ON OVER $100 MILLION
The new figures announced by the Trump campaign and the RNC include fundraising from the campaign, the party, and their joint-fundraising operations—Trump Victory 2020 and Trump Make America Great Again Committee.
In 2019, those entities reported bringing in a combined $463.6 million, with $194.8 million cash-on-hand. The money represents a massive budget that can go toward boosting the president's re-election campaign and other Republicans.
“President Trump’s unwavering commitment to keeping his promises to the American people has propelled us to break fundraising records again this quarter,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement Friday. “Democrats’ baseless impeachment charade has only made support for President Trump stronger. His accomplishments combined with the largest grassroots, data-driven ground game in Party history puts the President and Republicans in prime position for victory on November 3rd.”
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale touted the joint fundraising success.
"President Trump’s campaign and the RNC are working hand-in-hand to re-elect the President and help Republican candidates up and down the ballot,” Parscale said. “The President’s record of accomplishment has inspired unprecedented grassroots support which will translate to his own re-election and resounding victories for Republicans from coast to coast.”
Parscale on Thursday reported that the campaign, alone, raised a total of $143 million in 2019.
“The President’s war chest and grassroots army make his re-election campaign an unstoppable juggernaut,” Parscale said this week.
The GOP fundraising underscores how Republicans have sought to turn the impeachment fight to their advantage, tapping into an outraged base to fuel not only the president's 2020 reelection effort but also a political offensive against congressional Democrats.
As for Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign announced an eye-popping fourth-quarter haul on Thursday of $34.5 million — the largest quarterly figure to date for any of the Democrats seeking to take on Trump. Sanders’ fourth-quarter fundraising numbers were $9 million more than he brought in during the third quarter.
The campaign noted that Sanders has raised over $96 million from over 5 million individual donations since he launched his campaign. The team added that the average contribution was $18 — and over 99.9 percent of donors have not maxed out and could contribute again. The Sanders campaign added that the overall haul did not include an additional $12.7 million the senator transferred from his other federal fundraising accounts, including his 2018 Senate reelection campaign.
While Sanders' massive fundraising haul is still lower than the Trump campaign's fourth-quarter figure, Democrats are at a comparative disadvantage because the large field of primary candidates is essentially divvying up the donor pool, while the Trump campaign faces little primary competition as it raises re-election funds.
Meanwhile, former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign announced Wednesday that they brought in more than $24.7 million during the fourth quarter. Buttigieg’s fourth-quarter effort was roughly equal to his fundraising in the second quarter, but that figure dipped to just $19.1 million in the third quarter.
KLOBUCHAR POSTS HER BEST FUNDRAISING QUARTER TO DATE
His campaign, this week, touted that the fourth quarter haul brought his total amount raised since he launched his campaign early in 2019 to over $76 million.
Former Vice President Joe Biden brought in $22.7 million during the last quarter, his best fundraising showing to date, though still behind Sanders and Buttigieg. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren brought in $21.2 million during the October-December quarter of fundraising – a haul that’s down nearly $3.5 million from the previous three months.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also announced her fundraising numbers for the fourth quarter this week, reporting her campaign raised $11.4 million over the past three months and marking her best fundraising quarter to date.
Klobuchar’s October-December fourth-quarter figures – announced early Friday morning – are a huge boost from her July-September third-quarter numbers, when she raised just $4.8 million.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Craft, and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
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