Debate pays off for Trump as campaign hauls in $26M

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Trump, Biden draw stark contrasts on policy during final 2020 debate

The Washington Post’s James Hohmann weighs in on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

President Trump's re-election campaign is showcasing a fundraising record they set around Thursday’s second debate between the president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The campaign, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and their joint fundraising arms hauled in a combined $26 million around the final presidential debate, the campaign said Friday.

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Campaign manager Bill Stepien announced the news on a conference call with reporters, describing the haul as “our biggest online fundraising day ever.” The campaign, in a separate email, spotlighted that “October is already Trump Victory’s largest online fundraising month ever.”

The Biden campaign has not reported how much it raised around the debate.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden points toward President Donald Trump during the second and final presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)

Thursday’s fundraising haul for Trump comes at an opportune time.

Biden has dramatically outraised Trump the past couple of months. And that trend continued into October.

According to filings late Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission, Biden’s campaign raised $130 million during the first two weeks of October and spent more than $145 million. Trump’s re-election campaign raised nearly $43.6 million and spent $63.1 million during the Oct. 1-14 period.

Biden also had a more than $100 million cash-on-hand advantage over Trump. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported $331.2 million in their coffers as of Oct.14, with the Trump team and the RNC holding $223.6 million in the bank.

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The cash advantage has allowed Biden to vastly outspend Trump in the TV ad wars the past two months.

While campaign cash is crucial, it’s not everything. Four years ago, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton outraised and outspent Trump, and still lost the election.

Trump is downplaying the idea that his fundraising disadvantage would hinder his re-election bid.

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“We don’t need money, we have plenty of money,” Trump said during Thursday night’s debate. “In fact, we beat Hillary Clinton with a tiny fraction of the money” that she raised.