New data from the parties’ online fundraising platforms show how former President Donald Trump once again turned his legal woes into campaign cash, while Republican rival Nikki Haley used the GOP debates Trump skipped to fuel her rise.
The fundraising reports from the Republican platform, WinRed, and the Democratic platform, ActBlue, filed on Wednesday shed new light on the top candidates’ online fundraising, and provided a look at when Trump and Haley, as well as President Joe Biden, were able to leverage the spotlight to boost their campaigns.
Trump was the most prolific online fundraiser of the three, with his campaign and joint fundraising committee raising $58.2 million online in the last six months of 2023, including seven days where he brought in more than $1 million in single 24-hour periods.
Trump’s best online fundraising day was Aug. 25, when his mug shot was released following his arrest for allegedly interfering in Georgia’s 2020 election. Trump raised $4.2 million online that day alone.
Trump’s Georgia arrest fueled many of his best online fundraising days. In the week following his arrest, he raised $11.4 million — about 20% of the total sum he raised on WinRed over the six-month period.
Trump’s next-largest spike in online fundraising came in early August, after he was indicted in Washington on federal charges related to alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 election and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In just four days after the indictment was released on Aug. 1, Trump raised $4.4 million.
Haley’s campaign and joint fundraising committee raised $18.9 million through WinRed in the last six months of 2023. She did not have any days where she raised over $500,000, but she did see some spikes, particularly around GOP debates.
Haley’s best single-day haul came on Aug. 24, when she raised $471,000 after the first debate. She also saw spikes in online fundraising in early November and December around two other Republican debates.
The release of Haley’s first TV ad on Nov. 30 also coincided with one of her top online fundraising days, when she pulled in $404,000.
Biden’s campaign and joint fundraising committee, meanwhile, pulled in $36.6 million through ActBlue, according to the platform’s latest filing.
His biggest single-day haul from July through December came when he raised $1.1 million on Nov. 30 as part of a month-end fundraising push. Biden’s best online fundraising days tended to be around the end of each month, when campaigns typically make pitches to supporters to contribute before the month is over.
Biden also fundraised off of Trump’s legal challenges, and saw some slight bumps, but not the same dramatic spikes as the former president. The same day that Trump raised $4.2 million off of his mug shot, Biden raised $238,000 online.
The filings underscore Trump’s enduring strength among grassroots donors who contribute small amounts of money online.
Trump daily hauls surpassed Haley and Biden for 70% of the days covered in the six-month period.
Biden did pull in higher daily totals than Trump and Haley for more than a quarter of the period. And Haley outraised Trump and Biden for just five days, mostly around GOP debates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
