BOOM: Trump effect leads RNC to record $14.6 million haul in February
Jon Dougherty
The conventional wisdom among the ruling class in D.C. is that the president serves as head of his party. Credit or blame for the party’s gains or woes are therefore assigned to him.
With that in mind, it’s only fair to give POTUS Donald Trump kudos for the Republican National Committee’s record $14.6 million fundraising haul in February.
This is our second highest February ever (outpaced only by 2004) and largest off-cycle year ever,” RNC National Press Secretary Cassie Smedile told the Washington Examiner.
“It’s been three years since we launched the largest online fundraising apparatus ever, yet the three committees [including the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee] continue to see new enthusiasm and support for this president and his policies every day.”
The RNC also noted that the party has managed to dramatically increase its small-dollar donor pool, which 2020 Democratic rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Robert “Beto” O’Rourke have said proves their viability.
“Nearly 60 percent of our donations came from small-dollar donors, $8.9 million,” Smedile said.
“So while 2020 Dems continue to boast about their ‘massive’ one-day seven-figure fundraising days that they haul in only because it’s their formal ‘launch’ day, Trump’s fundraising arms have repeatedly hit this number and we’ve done so without the momentum of an initial campaign launch,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it raised a record $11.6 million in the same month.
As for the Trump effect on the RNC’s record fundraising, as a reminder the RNC announced in January their full support for POTUS Trump, heading off rumblings of a 2020 GOP primary challenge.
Per The Hill:
The resolution unanimously approved by the RNC at its winter meeting in New Mexico offered “undivided support for President Donald J. Trump and his effective Presidency.”
While the resolution is largely symbolic, it is also unusual, because the RNC has historically refrained from expressing support for a candidate before he officially becomes the party’s nominee.
https://thenationalsentinel.com/2019/03/21/boom-trump-effect-leads-rnc-to-record-14-6-million-haul-in-february/