Former President Trump's fundraising surged last month, but his political operation is still struggling to catch up with President Biden and the Democratic Party in terms of money coming in.
Trump's campaign and his Save America political action committee, two key committees in his political operation, reported raising $15.9 million in February and ended the month with more than $37 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings Wednesday night.
That's up from January, when committees raised just $13.8 million. With Trump easily winning the primaries in Nevada and New Hampshire in February, the odds of any Republican challenger winning him in the presidential race have diminished significantly.
“Americans know they were better off with President Trump four years ago than they were with crook Joe Biden and his disastrous policies. “We need to return to the America First policies that have worked to keep our country safe and the economy charged for all Americans,” Stephen Cheung, Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement.
Michael Tyler, Biden's campaign communications director, said in a statement that he was unimpressed: “If Donald Trump put up those kind of numbers on The Apprentice, he would fire himself.”
“But here's why he doesn't get it: His toxic extremist agenda of banning abortion, cutting Social Security, and promoting political violence alienates donors and does nothing (asterisk) to gain support from voters who will decide.” This election.”
Meanwhile, Biden's campaign said his political operation raised $53 million last month and ended February with $155 million. This includes Biden's joint fundraiser with the Democratic National Committee. The full picture will not be available until April when some committees in his political operation are due to report.
His main campaign account raised $21 million in February, according to his latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, and he finished the month with $71 million on hand.
The monthly numbers reported by Trump's two committees are key to the fundraising process, but they are only part of the full picture, and other committees are scheduled to announce their latest numbers in April. The Committee to Save America pays the bulk of Trump's legal fees in his various court cases, with 84% of its spending going to legal costs.
Trump's February numbers did not include any fundraising from the Republican National Committee. Earlier this month, days after his last major rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the Republican primary, Trump's political team took over the cash-strapped Republican National Committee and appointed a new leadership team.
This week, the campaign held joint fundraisers with the Republican National Committee.
Michelle L. Price writes for the Associated Press.
