Is our self-proclaimed billionaire president in money trouble?
It sure looks like it, according to Axios.
“Money concerns are very real for President Trump’s campaign — an unusual predicament for a sitting president, and one that worries veteran Republican operatives, with Trump so far behind in swing states as the race climaxes,” the news website says.
Trump has always claimed to be a multi-billionaire based on his extensive real estate holdings, but he has fought tooth and nail against releasing financial records that might offer supporting evidence.
Less than two months before Election Day, this is the time most presidential campaigns would be cranking up their ad buying, seeking to sway undecided voters.
But the opposite has happened.
It was reported last week that Trump’s campaign had pulled most of its TV advertising. Biden reportedly wound up spending more than 10 times as much as the president.
Meanwhile, Biden has been raking in the dough — a record $365 million in donations in August alone, a surge that quickly followed Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Trump “is expected to increase television spending next week,” reports the New York Times, “but several Republicans said that Bill Stepien, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager since July, was taking a cautious approach after the former leadership spent huge sums on television and digital ads earlier this year, to no discernible effect.”
Such light television spending and advertising blackouts in some key states “have mystified allies, raising questions about how much cash the campaign has in the bank,” the Times says.