Lately, Donald Trump has been attempting to whip into his base into an orgy of glee over the $24.8 million he’s raised (as of this writing) for his 2020 reelection campaign. Leaving aside the accuracy of his inevitable claims that no one has ever done as well in the history of the multiverse, that figure may seem disheartening compared to the sums raised by individual Democratic candidates. After all, even Bernie Sanders has only managed $18.2 million.
As usual, however, the well-(snake)oiled Trump propaganda machine is only presenting one small piece of the overall picture. Democratic funds have been split between a staggering number of candidates, while Republican donors only have one place they can send their money. If you add up the war chests raised by all Democratic candidates combined, they vastly exceed Republican fundraising efforts. According to The New York Times and several other sources, the Top Three alone have raised nearly $30 million.
More importantly, most of them raised their dough the old-fashioned way. Democratic funds have come mainly from small individual contributions rather than billionaire donors. That’s A LOT of people donating their hard-earned money to the cause of ridding the country of Donald Trump, and it’s the opposite of where Republican money is coming from.
Looks like the grassroots movements are still quite firmly on our side. So the next time you see a breathless headline about how awesome Trump’s chances of reelection are, don’t forget that money can’t buy everything.