The main super PAC supporting former President Trump raised about $70 million in May and said it plans to spend $100 million on paid media by Labor Day, focusing specifically on four key battleground states.
Taylor Budowicz, CEO of Make America Great Again, said in a memo to officials obtained by The Hill that his group’s massive donations add up to about $300 million raised by the Trump campaign and other pro-Trump groups last month.
While exact figures cannot be confirmed until campaign finance reports are released, the fundraising surge came shortly after Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York hush-money case.
“Joe Biden and Democrats wanted a conviction, and for now, they got it,” Budowicz wrote in the memo. “But the fundamental political realities that motivate voters have not changed: Voters are pessimistic about America’s future, and majorities believe the country has gotten worse on several key issues. President Trump’s favorability ratings and job ratings have actually increased this year, while these same metrics have worsened for Joe Biden.”
The memo outlined that the campaign sees Pennsylvania as a state that could have a decisive impact on the November election, and also sees Georgia, Arizona and Nevada as key targets for the former president.
According to the memo, MAGA’s internal polling shows Trump leading President Biden in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, and the two candidates are tied or close in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
But the group’s pledge to spend $100 million by Labor Day reflects what it sees as Trump’s clearest path to victory: wins in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
The super PAC plans to “play a key role in Pennsylvania through November,” Budowicz said, arguing that winning the state’s 19 electoral votes is “a game in the making.”
At the same time, the memo argues that winning Georgia’s 16 electoral votes would give Trump his “best gateway to the White House.”
The group also plans to launch a “targeted, sustained campaign” targeting persuadable voters in Nevada and Arizona through Labor Day (November 15).
If Trump wins the states he won in the 2020 election, plus Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania, he would have 271 electoral votes, enough to win the White House. Winning Arizona, Nevada and Georgia would give him 268 votes, just short of the 270 needed to win.
“We are under no illusions that the election will be easy or fair, but the good news is that President Trump is positioned to win if we all continue to do our part,” Budowicz wrote in the memo. “We have been saving our capital for this moment, and MAGA Inc. will continue to put every dollar we raise toward ensuring President Trump wins the November election.”
The Biden campaign has long maintained a healthy financial advantage over the Trump campaign, which has manifested itself in a wave of investments in paid advertising and the opening of dozens of campaign offices in key battleground states where Trump has yet to pour significant money into.
But Trump’s allies say the millions of dollars spent by the Biden campaign were aimed at winning over parts of Biden’s base and failed to significantly swing the polls in the president’s favor.
Trump has also seen a big increase in fundraising in recent weeks, fuelled in part by furor over his conviction in a New York criminal trial for falsifying business records.
In an average of Decision Desk and The Hill polls, Trump leads Biden by 3 percentage points in Arizona, 3 percentage points in Nevada, 4 percentage points in Georgia, 2 percentage points in Pennsylvania and 1 percentage point in Wisconsin. In Michigan, the two are ahead by less than 1 percentage point.
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