Small donors trump Trump’s cash
DONALD Trump spent $66.1-million (about R900-million) of his own money to win the White House. It was far short of the $100-million he said he would put into his US presidential campaign.
The billionaire’s own contributions were outweighed by thousands of smaller donations of $200 or less, which added up to about $279.9-million of his campaign war chest, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Trump won the presidency after spending far less money than his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton did, upending conventional wisdom about the role and efficacy of money in politics.
Still, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by both sides, and pleas for money throughout the campaign were constant. Trump highlighted his lack of dependence on big donors and special interests, and used his financial disadvantage in fundraising pitches to small donors.
“Crooked Hillary has the special interest fatcats bankrolling her campaign,” one pitch read. “I’m relying on the support of patriotic Americans like you.”
Trump claimed he wasn’t beholden to big donors, yet independent political committees (the super-PACs) supporting him took in $38.4-million. These included seven-figure contributions, one of $6-million from Linda McMahon, who Trump recently tapped to lead the Small Business Administration.
Among his biggest outside supporters were casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, who gave $10-million to a superPAC in September.
The bulk of Trump’s own contributions came in the form of about $47.5-million in loans to the campaign during the primaries.
He officially forgave the loans in June, a month before his Republican nomination. —Bloomberg