The money in Trump’s PAC, detailed in a new financial report presented to the Federal Electoral Commission on Sunday night, was largely raised through grassroots fundraising calls for help with legal challenges aimed at the 2020 election results. But Save America spent little money at the end of last year, reporting only $ 218,000 in merchant fees to Republican online donation processor WinRed.
An affiliate fundraising committee – the Trump Make America Great Again Committee – also presented its report. Recent fundraising calls from that group said it was splitting donations between Save America and the Republican National Committee, with 75% going to Trump’s leadership PAC and 25% going to the RNC.
Even after transferring more than $ 78 million to the RNC, Save America and Trump campaign, the joint fundraising committee still has nearly $ 60 million in its own coffers. Part of that money is probably earmarked for Save America, so the $ 31.2 million in Trump’s new PAC may be the minimum amount he has at his disposal.
The former president has already used Save America to attack Republicans he considers disloyal. The most prominent target of the PAC so far has been Rep. Liz Cheney, the president of the Republican House Conference and the most prominent advocate of impeachment for the Republican Party. Save America commissioned and released a poll that allegedly pointed out Cheney’s political position under siege in Wyoming after his vote.
“Trump’s biggest weapon is his megaphone. But without his Twitter account, he especially needs money to finance his desired political infrastructure, ”said Matt Gorman, a veteran Republican operative.
In some of his early post-White House political movements, Trump supported Kelli Ward for another term as president of the Arizona Republican Party, after Ward firmly supported his electoral conspiracy theories after the November elections. Ward narrowly won another term. He also endorsed former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders when she entered the Republican primaries for the open race for Arkansas governor, anointing her as a running vice-governor and attorney general of the state.
“President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than today, and his endorsement means more than any endorsement at any time,” said a statement from Save America, following Trump’s meeting with minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, last week.
Party committees start 2021 full of money
Both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee started the new year with a lot of money to spend.
The once besieged DNC is starting in a totally different position in 2021 compared to the last presidential election, ending the 2020 cycle with almost $ 39 million in the bank and just $ 3.1 million in debt.
Another $ 40 million is also earmarked for the committee, a total that was left over from its joint operations with President Joe Biden’s campaign, according to The New York Times. This would leave the DNC with about $ 75 million in cash available. The now-fueled committee is in a better position than ever to develop its operations under the Biden government.
The DNC has taken enormous power out of its small dollar program, building on the anti-Trump energy that has propelled Democratic candidates and groups up and down in the polls over the past four years. In 2020, unit contributions – totaling $ 200 or less – represented more of the DNC committee’s direct donations than those of larger checks.
DNC’s new president, Jaime Harrison, is deeply familiar with the power of online fundraising. He broke records in 2020, becoming the best-funded Senate candidate in history before losing his run in South Carolina, mostly through these popular donations.
The RNC had even more money in the bank than its Democratic counterpart. The group reported more than $ 80 million at the bank at the end of the year – a figure that is likely to be a floor. Like Save America, Trump’s leading PAC, the RNC is probably entitled to at least part of the money that the Trump Make America Great Again Committee is keeping in its coffers.
The RNC will be led by Ronna McDaniel for another cycle, a close ally of Trump who, however, insisted that the party would be independent in any future presidential primary, even if the former president plays the hat again.
It is not yet clear whether either party will be able to maintain the same fund-raising pace without Trump at the White House. While Democrats have benefited from the furious reaction against Trump from their online donors, Trump has also built a huge online fundraising list that has directed millions to the RNC.
Another look at gigantic spending in Georgia Senate contests
Year-end campaign funding records also detailed the flood of money in Georgia’s Senate contests earlier this year, where now Democrats Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican super PAC, attracted more than $ 62 million in contributions and spent a whopping $ 117.9 million from late November to the end of the year. The group’s largest individual donor in that period was One Nation, its affiliated nonprofit group, which does not need to disclose its donors – meaning that the true source of the contributions will remain masked.
The American Petroleum Institute gave $ 5 million, as did Charles and Helen Schawb.
The Senate majority PAC, the Democrats’ comparable super PAC, brought significantly less. He raised $ 28 million and spent just under $ 30 million in the same period.
The group took out a $ 5 million loan – quite unusual for a super PAC – and more than $ 4 million from Fair Fight, a group affiliated with Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, and more than $ 3 million from its non-profit affiliate Majority Forward.
Meanwhile, the DSCC raised $ 24 million and spent $ 31.7 million. He had $ 9.8 million in the bank, with $ 20 million in debt, putting them in the red to start the 2022 election cycle. The NRSC raised $ 43 million and spent $ 65.5 million. He had $ 14.4 million in cash and $ 9 million in debt at the beginning of the year.