'Sick of them asking for money': Trump’s small-dollar donors sour on his fundraising appeals

10 October 2024

Former President Donald Trump's legions of supporters are growing weary of being constantly asked to donate to the billionaire's presidential campaign, and fundraising records are reflecting small-dollar donors' fatigue.

Newsweek reported that Trump's fundraising among small donors — typically referred to as contributors who give $200 or less per donation — has become particularly anemic in the final months of the 2024 campaign cycle, especially in comparison to his 2020 candidacy. The former president has raised $98 million from small donors through June, which pales in comparison to the $165 million he had raised by October of 2020.

By comparison, President Joe Biden, and now Vice President Kamala Harris, have been raking in record donations from small-dollar contributors. According to Newsweek, small donations to the Democratic presidential ticket have totaled more than $285 million since April of 2023. That accounts for roughly 40% of their total fundraising in the 2024 cycle.

Several donors who have previously given to Trump's campaign say they won't be responding to additional fundraising appeals. That includes Susan Brito, a retired Florida resident who has given small amounts to Republicans through their WinRed platform, according to Federal Election Commission data.

"I am sick of them asking for money," Brito told the Associated Press (AP). "I am disabled, you are sending me text, after text, after text."

The Republican National Committee (RNC) rolled out WinRed in 2019 to compete with Democrats' ActBlue platform, with then-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel heavily promoting the tool as a means of attracting more small-dollar support for Republican candidates. But the near-constant drumbeat of fundraising appeals from both Trump and other down-ballot candidates is overwhelming for some small GOP donors, which is causing concern for some local GOP leaders.

"People get annoyed by the text messages, and the direct mail, and the emails," Wayne County, Ohio Republican Party chairman Doug Deeken told the AP.

The former president's ongoing legal problems may also be scaring away donors from giving small amounts. After Lara Trump took over the RNC as co-chair earlier this summer, her father-in-law entered into an agreement with the RNC that a portion of funds the party raised would go toward his legal bills. Notably, that shared fundraising agreement stipulates that Trump's legal fund get its payout first before the RNC made disbursements to Republican candidates.

Trump currently owes more than $450 million to the State of New York after being found civilly liable for fraud. He also owes writer E. Jean Carroll $88.3 million, with $5 million having been awarded to Carroll in response to her sexual abuse suit, and another $83.3 million for defamation. His civil fraud suit continues to accrue roughly $100,000 in daily interest each day it goes unpaid.

Click here to read Newsweek's report in full.

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