Former President Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee are facing fundraising deficits against Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
But Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley has asserted that the Trump campaign and the RNC “have ample resources” to win in November.
Harris' campaign touted a “historic 24-hour fundraising run,” showcasing its fundraising prowess this week on the heels of the first and likely only debate between the vice president and President Trump.
The money raised by Harris' campaign is the latest sign of a surge in fundraising for the vice president in the nearly two months since she replaced President Biden at the top of the Democratic National Convention's list of candidates for the 2024 presidential election.
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Vice President Kamala Harris (right) and former President Donald Trump during a presidential debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The post-debate fundraising story came a week after the Harris campaign said it raised $361 million in August, nearly three times the $130 million raised by the Trump campaign.
Asked about fundraising during an interview with Fox News Digital at the presidential debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Whatley said, “The Democrats have a ton of money. The Democrats have always had a ton of money.”
Harris and Trump hold rival rallies in key battleground states
But he stressed that “we certainly have the resources we need to get our message out to every voter that we speak to, and I'm confident we can see this campaign through to the end and win on November 5th.”
Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams noted that in the 2016 presidential election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton “raised far more money than Donald Trump, but it didn't make any difference. He essentially controlled the free media and was able to push his message without spending big on TV ads.”
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign event at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“People have opinions about Donald Trump. You can run tens of millions of dollars of negative advertising against him, but the cake is already baked in terms of how the public perceives him,” added Williams, a veteran of multiple Republican presidential campaigns. “Harris is less well-known and less defined. I think the Trump campaign has ample resources to define her.”
The Harris campaign stressed that it is investing much of its fundraising money into grassroots and voter outreach efforts, saying it is “dedicating resources to reaching voters who will decide the outcome of this election.”
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The massive ground operation, originally built when Biden was the candidate, is coordinated between the presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties, with more than 312 offices and more than 2,000 staffers in key battleground states, according to the campaign.
Comparing the Harris campaign and the DNC to the Trump campaign and the RNC, the Democrats have a significant advantage in low-level campaigning, but the Trump campaign has relied on a small number of sympathetic outside groups to help it execute the turnout tactics traditionally employed in presidential campaigns.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin) (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
Whatley disputed the notion that Democrats had a stronger voter turnout effort.
“No, they don't have a strong ground force. I'm very comfortable with the ground force that we have deployed through Trump Force 47,” the Republican National Committee chairman told Fox News Digital.
“Given the slim margins in key battleground states, the ground battle will be crucial and could determine the outcome of the election,” Williams said.
“In this race, with key races likely to be within a point of each other, local action can make a difference. It takes resources and organization to run an effective local operation and identify persuadable voters and mobilize them to the polls,” he added. “Democrats will be running a very strong operation and trying to get out the vote early in many states.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
