Theodore Schleifer at CNN runs down Donald Trump’s latest fundraising numbers:
Donald Trump is still refusing to donate significantly more money to his campaign, putting him at an overwhelming cash disadvantage to Hillary Clinton with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.
The GOP nominee -- despite frequent promises to contribute $100 million to his campaign by Election Day -- donated a measly $31,000 in early October, a fundraising report released Thursday shows. He has only donated $56 million to his race as of October 20 and has just $16 million in reserves. [...]
Clinton, a dominant fundraiser in the presidential race, collected $52.8 million in just the first 19 days of October, while Trump took in $30.5 million. Neither of those totals include the money raised for national and state parties that are part of their joint fundraising agreements.
According to Gideon Resnick at The Daily Beast, even Trump’s own family and advisors have not donated to Trump:
According to a review of Federal Election Commission filings by The Daily Beast, only one of Trump’s children showed up on a list of itemized receipts for the campaign: Eric. On Sept. 7, 2016, Eric Trump appears to have contributed $376.20 listed only as “meeting expense: meals.” It appears that money was later refunded. Eric Trump did not respond to a request for comment about the transaction.
Ivanka Trump, who previously contributed to Hillary Clinton and John McCain in 2007 and 2008 respectively, does not appear to have given to her father.
Here’s Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy’s analysis of Trump’s numbers at The Washington Post:
The real estate billionaire is nowhere close to personally donating $100 million to his bid as he has claimed he will, an assertion he repeated Thursday at a rally in Toledo. Even though Trump's website and email appeals have been promising to double- or triple-match the donations of his supporters, Trump gave his campaign less than $31,000 in in-kind contributions in the first 19 days of October. That's down from the $2 million in cash he had been contributing each month.
Trump's total personal donations to his campaign now total $56.1 million. [...]
An array of super PACs that have sought to bolster Trump's bid have also struggled to raise money. While Clinton's main super PAC hit a record $175 million in contributions this month, more than a dozen pro-Trump groups together were on track to hit less than $65 million in contributions by Oct. 19.
Tim Mak give us a glimpse of the Khan family on the trail for Hillary Clinton:
Khizr Khan is on the verge of tears.
“I’ve prepared some remarks, in writing, but I don’t think this occasion calls for that,” he begins, putting aside his notes and stepping away from the podium. “Let me speak, heart to heart.”
Khan is in this swing region of Virginia to appeal to independent voters, emphasizing Donald Trump’s flaws by appearing at a mosque and a veterans meet-and-greet in this military-heavy town—reminding locals of Trump’s suggestion that Muslims be banned and of his insults to a Gold Star family. [...]
By sending him to Virginia, the Clinton campaign is padding its lead and trying to appeal to those military service members and veterans who oppose Trump’s Muslim ban, and agree that cooperation with patriotic American Muslims is critical to defeating the challenge of Islamic terrorism.
At The Huffington Post, Jonathan Cohn explains why Trump’s decision to bash Obamacare in Ohio was a foolish one:
[T]o paint the law as a disaster, as Trump and so many Republicans are doing, is to ignore its accomplishments ― accomplishments that are particularly evident in states where the exchanges are working relatively well and where officials have expanded eligibility for Medicaid.
One of those states happens to be Ohio.
The most important sign of progress there is also the easiest one to document. In 2013, the year before Obamacare took full effect, 11.5 percent of the Ohio population had no health insurance. By 2015, the most recent year for which official census figures are available, the ranks of the uninsured had fallen nearly in half ― to 6 percent.
Basically, that’s a half-million people who now have better access to care and more financial protection from medical bills.
CNBC’s Elizabeth Schulze and Steve Liesman report on new poll results on the Trump brand:
Exclusive new results from the CNBC All-America Economic Survey found that 26 percent of Americans hold a less favorable view of the Trump brand name since the campaign began. Just 4 percent hold a more favorable opinion. Sixty-four percent say their view hasn't changed. Six percent were not sure.
But the results showed that nearly every demographic group — whether age, income or sex — is inclined to think less favorably about Donald Trump's brand now than before the election. For example, women grew less favorable by a 32 percent to 2 percent margin, and men by a 22 percent to 5 percent margin.
And, on a final note, speaking of the Trump brand, here’s Tory Newmyer at Fortune:
If Donald Trump wants to launch a broadcast network with his name on it after the election, he’ll have to get through an enterprising public health doctor named Mark Grabowsky first.
Grabowsky, who’s spent his career working on wiping out diseases like measles and malaria, noticed while watching the third presidential debate earlier this month that the trademark for “Trump TV” was still up for grabs. So, on a lark, he filed for it. By becoming the first to apply for the mark, the lifelong Democratic voter staked a claim that Trump’s legal team would have to challenge with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a potentially months-long slog.
