Trump, RNC raised almost $200M in ’19

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s political operation headed into 2020 with nearly $200 million on hand, according to party officials, giving him a financial war chest that vastly outstrips the resources of his Democratic opponents weeks before primary voting begins.

Trump’s re-election campaign, the Republican Party and two joint fundraising committees together raised a record $154 million in the final three months of the year, party officials told the Washington Post, a massive haul they said was fueled by backlash to the House impeachment of the president.

Of that, more than $72 million was collected by the Republican National Committee, driven in part by big checks from wealthy donors — a sign of how much of the moneyed class that shunned Trump in 2016 is now embracing him.

Small donors also continued to give to the party and to Trump’s reelection campaign, which pulled in $46 million, far outpacing leading Democrats vying for their party’s nomination. Among them, the biggest fundraiser last quarter was Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who raised $34.5 million.

Since the impeachment inquiry began in September, the president’s campaign and RNC gained 600,000 new donors, officials said.

In all, Trump and the RNC together scooped up a staggering $463 million in 2019, party officials said. In comparison, then President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party raised roughly $220 million in 2011, the year before his reelection.

“President Trump’s unwavering commitment to keeping his promises to the American people has propelled us to break fundraising records again this quarter,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna

McDaniel said in a statement. “Democrats’ baseless impeachment charade has only made support for President Trump stronger.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has trailed the RNC in fundraising.

As of the end of November, the DNC had raised $83.6 million for the year and had $6.5 million in debt, according to campaign finance filings. The RNC raised $241 million for the entire year, GOP party officials said.