Donald Trump: Fundraising Gap With Hillary Clinton Isn’t a Big Deal
According to fundraising results released by the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns Monday, the Democratic former secretary of state raised more than eight times as much money in May as the Republican businessman and former reality TV star.
Clinton raised $26 million to Trump’s $3.1 million in May, which has many questioning once again the viability of the billionaire’s unconventional presidential campaign. But pointing out he raised substantially more money for the GOP—approximately $12 million—he says he could easily go back to the funding mechanism that worked for him in the Republican primary.
“I can go a different route, I could just spend my own money, have a lot of cash and do like I did with the other and just spend money on myself and go happily along and I think I win that way,” he told FOX News.
Trump spent a little more than $46 million of his own money in the primary fight.
Will the fundraising deficit hurt or help Trump’s campaign? The businessman successfully railed against his competitors’ Super PACs in the GOP primary race. Clinton is also well-funded in that regard.
And according to new polls released Tuesday morning by Quinnipiac University, the presumptive Republican and Democrat candidates are running neck-and-neck in two of the three key “battleground states” for the general election.
In Ohio, in a two-candidate race, Clinton and Trump are tied at 40 percent each. When it is expanded to a four-candidate race, including Libertarian candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, Clinton ekes out a 2-point lead, 38-36, over Trump, while Johnson and Stein trail at 8 and 3 percent, respectively.
In Pennsylvania, head-to-head, Clinton leads Trump, 42-41. But with Johnson and Stein added into the mix, Clinton grabs a three-point lead, 39-36, with Johnson at 9 percent and Stein at 4 percent.
Clinton has a big, eight-point lead over Trump in Florida, 47-39. Adding Johnson and Stein, that lead is whittled down to six points, 42-36, with Johnson at 7 percent and Stein at 3 percent.
Here’s a rundown of other battleground states:
- Georgia (16 Electoral Votes) — Trump leads, 45-41
- Iowa (6 EV) — Trump leads, 44-42
- Minnesota (10 EV) — Clinton leads, 43-41
- Oregon (7 EV) — Trump leads, 44-42
- North Carolina (16 EV) — Trump leads, 44-43
- Virginia (13 EV) — Clinton leads, 42-38
Based on the current polling, Clinton holds a 304-234 lead in the Electoral College. To win the presidency, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes. But with so many states within the statistical margin of error, the election is far from decided.
