Data from the Federal Election Commission shows that former President Donald Trump has more than $110 million cash on hand in a campaign committee, and a former campaign official doubts Trump will share it.
“He does not share well when it comes to money,” said an anonymous person identified by NBC News as a former Trump campaign official. This person said there is “no way” Trump would spend any of the committee money on candidates he has recently endorsed.
On Wednesday alone, Trump endorsed six members of Congress – Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Rep. Carol Miller (R-Va.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), Rep.
Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) – on his official website.
“His endorsement typically comes with a check for $5,000 – the maximum direct contribution the super PAC can make,” said NBC.
“It pisses me off,” said Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor based in Arizona, according to the outlet. Eberhart said Trump isn’t even making more than a perfunctory direct contribution to help his allies “It’s pretty selfish.”
At least one Republican also thinks that Trump would rather keep the funds to himself.
“All the money that he’s raising for himself, it’s not going to candidates,” said former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), who has long been critical of the former president. “I think they [Republicans] are seeing that it’s all about him and that he doesn’t care about Republicans winning a majority.”
According to Reuters, the Save America group “has quickly become one of the top Republican fundraising organizations,” but it has been “stingy” with its spending on Republican efforts to win the November congressional elections. While the group – which Trump founded in November 2020 – had raised $124 million as of last month, it only spent $14 million, said the outlet.
Some Republican candidates for Congress have struggled to raise funds. For example, Harriet Hageman, who is running against Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming and has an endorsement from Trump, raised less than $750,000 through the end of 2021.
Last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee identified 72 battleground districts for the midterms. Trump only donated to two candidates from the list, Ryan Zinke in Montana and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin. Super PAC groups such as Save America can spend unlimited sums to help candidates.
A national GOP strategist, who spoke with NBC on the condition of anonymity said Trump “has an opportunity to do a very positive thing,” by investing in battlegrounds.
Although he isn’t spending much on candidates through Save America, Trump has headlined fundraising dinners and intends to continue doing so.
“I’m really grateful for his help doing that,” the said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota.
Republican candidates do have other options for funding support, including the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC endorsed by Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans leadership. This super PAC Thursday announced a “record-breaking fundraising haul,” of $37.5 million for the first quarter of 2022.
According to CNN, history indicates Republicans have a good chance of gaining a majority in Congress after the elections, as the party in the White House traditionally loses seats in the first midterm election of a new president's term.
Additionally, President Joe Biden’s approval rating is hovering at just 40% and Republican voters are more likely than Democratic voters to view the midterm elections as important this fall, according to recent Pew Research Center data.
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