The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee (RNC), and similar groups generated more than $154 million in the fourth quarter in 2019—occurring as the House pushed to impeach President Donald Trump.
That’s according to Brad Parscale, President Trump’s reelection manager, who said that $463 million was raised for Trump, the RNC, and other groups in all of 2019. The RNC and his campaign, meanwhile, have $200 million on-hand cash to spend.
Trump and the GOP “have built an unstoppable juggernaut” and “it keeps getting bigger and stronger,” he wrote on Twitter, describing the fourth-quarter fundraising as “staggering.”
As the Democrats led an impeachment inquiry into the president, Trump and RNC officials reported increases in campaign fundraising on key days, including the Sept. 25 announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), several days of public hearings with witnesses, the Oct. 31 vote to authorize the public hearings, and on Dec. 18 when Trump was impeached.
The Trump campaign, RNC, and associated groups gained 600,000 new digital and direct mail contributors since the impeachment began, an RNC official confirmed on the day the House voted to impeach Trump.
“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 also said in a statement. “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.”
In comparison, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised $86.3 million in 2019 as of the end of November and was $6.5 million in debt, according to the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) led the Democratic presidential candidates in fourth-quarter fundraising, generating some $34.5 million. Former Vice President Joe Biden took home $22.7 million, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) campaign said she took in $21.2 million, which is lower than her prior total.
Meanwhile, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign stated it received $24.7 million, and businessman Andrew Yang’s campaign said that he raised $16.5 million. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also announced her fundraising numbers, saying she raised some $11.4 million over the past three months.
The Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets website in mid-October wrote that while Trump and the RNC have raised “a record-breaking $334 million to advance GOP campaigns nationwide,” the DNC has lagged “far behind in its lackluster fundraising efforts, with $8.6 million on hand through the end of September. Falling short in campaign funds, the committee is limited in its ability to help Democratic candidates ahead of 2020.”
The Federal Elections Commission is slated to post the full campaign finance reports later in January.
