Trump’s 'mounting legal costs' are a 'significant drain' on election hopes: political consultant

26 February 2024

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been arguing that Donald Trump's legal problems, which include four criminal prosecutions and a variety of civil lawsuits, make him a flawed candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and that she would have a much better chance against incumbent President Joe Biden if she were the nominee.

Regardless, Trump is moving closer and closer to securing the nomination.

Trump won the GOP primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he leads Haley by 63 percent among Republican primary voters in a HarrisX poll released in late February. An Economist/YouGov poll conducted February 18-20 showed GOP voters favoring Trump over Haley by 65 percent.

The 2024 election is shaping up to be a Biden/Trump rematch — one in which, according to political consultant and former Bill Clinton adviser Douglas E. Schoen, Trump's legal bills are a "significant drain."

"If President Joe Biden has any advantage going into the 2024 presidential election," Schoen explains in an op-ed published by The Hill on February 26, "it's that former President Donald Trump's legal fees and primary challenges are a significant drain on the Trump campaign's finances. Indeed, with money playing an increasingly prominent role in political campaigns, particularly presidential contests, both Trump and Biden are facing a very similar problem, albeit for different reasons, and to varying degrees."

The political consultant adds, "While both are raising less money than past candidates, and both are spending considerable sums, only Trump has to split his spending between politics and rapidly mounting legal costs."

Schoen notes that "by the end of January," Biden "and his various campaign arms" had "accumulated $130 million in cash, raising $42 million over the last month alone, according to Federal Election Commission filings."

"To be sure, Biden's numbers are staggering compared to the Trump campaign, previously considered a fundraising behemoth after raising $774 million in the 2020 cycle," Schoen notes. "Today, however, FEC filings show that Trump has about $30.5 million cash on hand and raised a dismal, if not extremely concerning, $13.8 million over the last month. Worse, Trump's campaign spent nearly $3 million more than it raised in January, taking in just under $9 million, but spending more than $11 million, as they continue spending on the Republican primary and his mounting legal fees."

Trump's "rising costs," according to Schoen, "come at the same time Trump's personal fortune is set to take a massive hit" following his losses in civil fraud and defamation cases.

"Why, then, is Biden not running away with this race?" Schoen argues. "While Biden is not inundated with the legal fees plaguing Trump's campaign, his spending on campaign ads reflects a candidate floundering to find a message that works. Over the past six months, Biden's campaign apparatus has burned more than $20 million on advertising in swing states, seemingly to no avail, at least in terms of his polling numbers."

Read Douglas E. Schoen's full analysis for The Hill at this link.

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