President Donald Trump is considering infusing his own cash into his campaign after The New York Times reported that his campaign squandered its massive fundraising lead over Joe Biden on questionable spending.
The Trump campaign has already spent more than $800 million of the $1.1 billion it raised between 2019 and July 2020.
Under former campaign manager Brad Parscale, the campaign spent more than $350 million on fundraising operations and another $100 million went towards TV ads, including an $11 million Super Bowl ad to match billionaire Democratic flameout Mike Bloomberg.
The campaign has also spent excessively on consultants, including $500,000 to Trump’s former bodyguard.
Veteran GOP strategist Ed Rollins said Parscale was spending “like a drunken sailor” in an effort that still left Trump “10 points behind” Biden.
“I think a lot of money was spent when voters weren’t paying attention,” he added.
Budget tightening:
New campaign manager Bill Stepien has reined in spending and took a paycut, according to The Times.
“The most important thing I do every day is pay attention to the budget,” he told the outlet.
The campaign has also slashed its TV spending. The Biden campaign spent $36 million on TV ads in August compared to just $4.8 million for Trump.
“We had to claw our way back,” said top campaign adviser Jason Miller.
Parscale insisted that all of his spending, including $800,000 to promote his personal social media pages, was approved by the Trump family.
“I built an unprecedented infrastructure with the Republican Party under this family’s leadership since 2016,” he said. “I am proud of my achievements.”
Trump considering putting in own cash:
Trump has discussed putting up to $100 million of his own money into his campaign, according to Bloomberg, though he has “not committed” to doing so.
Trump contributed $66 million of his own money in 2016, though he’s funneled much of that money back into his own businesses.
The report also comes after Trump’s net worth declines by $600 million in the past year, according to Forbes.
