(PresidentialWire.com)- Just because he’s no longer in an official political position doesn’t mean that former President Donald Trump isn’t a superstar in the Republican Party.
New figures for fundraising were released this week, and they show that the political operation Trump has built began this year with a whopping $122 million at its disposal.
In just the second half of 2021, the various committees that operate under Trump’s political umbrella raised $51 million. Despite being a drop-off from the total he brought in during the first six months of 2021, it still represents a huge number — especially for a person who isn’t even running for political office at this point.
Some of the former president’s skeptics or complete detractors were hoping he would eventually just disappear from the spotlight. However, these new fundraising numbers show that is most certainly not happening.
Not only do these numbers paint a challenging picture for Democrats, it also shows people in his own party that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
In recent weeks, Trump has clashed in the media with other potential solid Republican presidential candidates such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. While DeSantis has always done well raising money — and is doing so in his bid for re-election as his state’s governor — his numbers pale in comparison to Trump’s.
In other words, any candidate who might be challenging Trump in a potential run for the White House in 2024 — whether it be a Democrat or fellow Republican — is going to have to deal with a whole treasure trove of money that the former president has at his disposal.
Many liberals are worried not just by the amount of money he’s raised, but how he was able to raise it. It all came in a year that saw him be impeached for the second time while he was still president, continued to claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen and was at the center of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
A long-time critic of Trump’s, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, expressed her dismay at the fundraising numbers. She said:
“As someone who has been very much against a Trump candidacy every single time — in 2016 and 2020, and not looking forward to 2024 — what is very difficult is the amount of support he still has at the grassroots level.”
What was particularly impressive to Del Percio is how much of the money Trump raises comes in smaller amounts. According to the Trump team, all but 2% of the donations made to Trump in the second half of 2021 totaled less than $200 each.
Trump aides said that, in that timeframe, Trump received a whopping total of roughly 1.6 million donations.
As Del Percio explained:
“It is one thing to show up at a free rally, but it is another thing to give that $5 or $10 or $20, because that means you are bought in. Big-dollar donors may give to three or four candidates just to cover their bases. A small-dollar donor, and he has plenty, is complete buy-in. They are with you!”
