Trump Financially Abandons the GOP to Fend for Themselves

Over the course of the election season, we’ve seen numerous reports of Trump’s enrichment of Trump through the campaign process.

He has charged the campaign rental rates that are four to five times higher than what they would normally be to rent space in his own building, as well as charged for using his own airplane and other resources, where he could be saving the GOP money and funneling the savings down ballot.

That, of course, is what someone that wasn’t a parody candidate would have done. This is Donald Trump.

The Washington Post is reporting that Trump has tired of putting on even the most basic pretenses of being a team player.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has effectively shut down his high-dollar fundraising operation for the rest of the campaign, a highly unusual move that deals another serious blow to the GOP’s effort to finance its get-out-the-vote operation before Election Day.

Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s national finance chairman, said in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday that Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the party and the campaign, held its last formal fundraiser on Oct. 19. The luncheon was in Las Vegas on the day of the final presidential debate.

Hillary Clinton, in the meantime, is forging ahead, having fundraisers into November, stopping only five days short of election day. This, and she’s already far ahead of Trump in terms of funds raised to benefit her party.

Trump only began fundraising in late May. He has brought in approximately $219 million, as opposed to Clinton’s $499 million, as of September 30, 2016.

Mnuchin said the Trump campaign decided to keep the candidate’s final weeks focused on taking his message to the voters in person rather than on raising money. There may be a handful of events in coming days featuring Trump surrogates, including his son Donald Jr., according to people familiar with the internal discussions. But Mnuchin said “there is virtually nothing planned.”

“We have minimized his fundraising schedule over the last month to emphasize his focus on political [events],” Mnuchin said. “Unlike Hillary, who has been fundraising and not out and about, he has constantly been out and about.”

Unfortunately, his “out and about” has not translated in better poll numbers, and has, quite likely resulted in a dip in poll numbers.

But Trump’s decision effectively turns off one of the main spigots to the Republican National Committee, which collected $40 million through Trump Victory as of Sept. 30. The party has devoted a large share of the funds to pay for its national voter mobilization program to benefit the entire Republican ticket.

The RNC have been forced to fend for themselves, in large part, because they have a nominee who chooses to label them the enemy and tells his supporters that Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOP are against him.

Mnuchin claims the online donations are making up for what the lack of active fundraising would do, but the RNC only received about 20% of those funds. The rest goes to Trump.

Trump has also boosted his bid with his own resources. But while the businessman has repeatedly vowed to put $100 million into the effort, campaign finance reports show that he has given just $56 million so far.

Because he never intended to self-fund, in the first place, and now his lack of work ethic is hurting the down ballot races, when they most need the funds.

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