Don’t believe Donald Trump’s promises to pay for his 2020 campaign
There are good reasons to be skeptical of this boasting. Mainly because Trump has said it before and, well, he hasn’t entirely.
“Due to the Chinese virus, my campaign, which raised a lot of money, was forced to spend to counter the false information about how we handled it (China Ban, etc.),” he said. he tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “We have done, and are doing, a GREAT job, and we have a lot of money left, much more than in 2016. As I did in the 2016 primaries, if more money is needed, which I doubt it goes up! “
Just before heading to Florida on Tuesday, Trump told reporters about the same thing. “If we needed more, I would put it on personally like I did in the primaries last time,” he said. “In the 2016 primaries, I put in a lot of money. If I have to, I will do it here, but we don’t have to because we have double and maybe even triple what we had many years ago. “
This is a claim that deserves further investigation!
There is no doubt that Trump has placed his wealth and willingness to spend it at the center of his 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination.
“You often know you see these really stupid deals. And you will say it’s stupid. It doesn’t make sense. But when you think, it makes sense because these politicians represent interests, let it be a country or company, where doing stupid business only makes sense for that politician and for that company or country. … I fund my own campaign myself. It’s my money. “
Even then, this statement was not true. Yes, Trump was giving personal money to the campaign. But he also collected money from individuals: Lots of money!
“After self-funding his primary elections, Mr. Trump and the campaign mounted an exceptional fundraising operation, which in recent days has been inundated with contributions for the Republican Party,” read a campaign statement issued at the time. . (Reminder: he did not self-finance his main campaign.)
It turns out not! Trump ended up spending a total of $ 66 million of his own money in 2016, which means barely $ 20 million came out of his pocket during the election fight against Hillary Clinton. Trump raised a total of $ 339 million in the general election, meaning his total personal investment was around 6% of the total money he brought in during the fall campaign
“Figures from the last few weeks of the campaign … showed Mr. Trump paid his own businesses nearly $ 12 million in the election – reimbursement for flights, hotel stays, meals and services for him and his staff, such as office space in the tower he owns on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. His preferred mode of transportation – his private plane – accounted for the largest share of the money. revenue in Trump entities, $ 8.7 million. “
Who, well, yeah.
Seems familiar?