Trump claims campaign has 'a lot of money' after report reveals he's low on funds

Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed concerns and confirmed reports that he may put his own personal funds into his reelection bid, following reports that his campaign coffers have been depleted thanks to lavish and undisciplined spending.

“Because of the China Virus, my Campaign, which has raised a lot of money, was forced to spend in order to counter the Fake News reporting about the way we handled it (China Ban, etc.),” Trump tweeted, referencing the coronavirus in racist terms.

Trump then claimed his campaign was doing “a GREAT job, and have a lot of money left over, much more than 2016.”

“Like I did in the 2016 Primaries, if more money is needed, which I doubt it will be, I will put it up!” he added.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Bloomberg News reported that Trump was considering spending as much as $100 million of his own money on his campaign — though it’s unclear whether he even has that much cash in liquid assets.

That report came after the New York Times did a deep dive into Trump’s campaign spending, finding that his campaign has already blown through more than $800 million of the $1.1 billion it raised since 2019. That money was spent on everything from legal bills for Trump and his aides, high salaries and perks for campaign staff, and other head-scratching purchases such as planes to fly Trump banners across areas of the country.

The typically Trump-friendly Fox News on Tuesday called the spending “jaw dropping,” saying that the campaign had essentially taken hundreds of millions of dollars and put it “into a wood chipper.”

With eight weeks to go until Election Day, GOP strategists fear Trump won’t have enough money to run a winning campaign.

Over the past few weeks, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been outspending Trump on the television airwaves. And Biden set a fundraising record in August, bringing in $365 million — the most a politician has ever raised in a single month in history.

It comes as Biden holds a lead in the polls, both nationally and in enough critical swing states that would hand Biden a win if the election were held today.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.