[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Tuesday (Sept. 8) that he may have to dip into his own pocket to fund a re-election campaign that is struggling to attract both donors and voters with just eight weeks to go. .
Acknowledging that his once-lauded fundraising machine may need the help of his real estate fortune, underscored the hurdles the Republican faces as he embarked on a crucial five-state tour that is vital to amassing even a small victory at the electoral college on November 3.
“If I have to, I will,” Trump told reporters when asked about spending his own cash. “Whatever it takes. We have to win.”
He flew to Jupiter, Florida, for a speech with supporters in the must-have state before returning to Air Force One to speak in North Carolina, an undecided state that followed suit in 2016 but threatens to change Democrat Joe Biden.
He heads to Michigan on Thursday and Nevada on the weekend.
On Friday, Trump and Biden will be in Pennsylvania, another electoral battleground, for the September 11 commemorations at the Flight 93 National Monument in Shanksville.
It was unclear whether they could declare a brief truce and appear together at the ceremony remembering the passengers who died after attacking their hijackers on September 11, 2001, sending the doomed plane into a field.
Biden, who was already in Pennsylvania on Monday for Labor Day, will be in Michigan on Wednesday, while his vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris travels to Florida and his wife Jill Biden visits Minnesota, a state Trump is pushing for. change.
Trump is touting promises of a rapid coronavirus vaccine, possibly just before Election Day, and a booming economic recovery in hopes of straightening out his campaign.
But Biden, who is insisting on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, maintains a healthy lead in national polls and much smaller but consistent leads in swing states.
READ: Portrait of a choice: America’s career boils down to six decisive states
In response, Trump has thrown everything he can against Biden in the past two weeks, calling him “stupid,” accusing him of being a puppet of socialist revolutionaries, and claiming that sometimes violent protests against racism are an omen of mass-led by the Democrats. chaos.
“Suburban voters are turning to the Republican Party because of violence in Democratic-controlled cities and states. If Biden comes in, this violence will ‘hit the suburbs’ and FAST,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, repeating what has become. in one of his core re-election messages.
“Could you say goodbye to your American Dream!”
HAS THE DONOR’S ENTHUSIASM GONE?
The financial situation of the campaign is a surprise.
Trump has effectively been campaigning for a second term throughout his administration, submitting documentation for an execution on the same day as his 2017 inauguration.
Trump promises to change the economy and oversee a COVID-19 vaccine possibly before the election. (Photo: AFP / Mandel Ngan)
Since the beginning of 2019, his campaign has spent about $ 800 million, more than double that of Biden’s.
But despite that edge and the campaign’s boastful descriptions of itself as a “monster,” Trump’s train is reportedly running into a wall of funding.
Biden, who began his hunt for the White House with a slow and underfunded effort, surprised many by beating Trump in fundraising stakes this August with a gross of $ 365 million, breaking previous monthly records.
READ: Biden and Trump go on the offensive as the US campaign enters the home stretch
Now Trump will find the bills piling up as he accelerates travel, outreach to voters and, most of all, costly television advertising efforts before November 3.
A New York Times article published Monday focused on wasteful spending under then-campaign manager Brad Parscale, in particular two ads aired during the Super Bowl priced at $ 11 million.
On Twitter, Trump said that any financial problems were the fault of the media, because he had been “forced to spend to counter fake news.”
BAD NEWS CYCLE
Throughout his first term, Trump has grown accustomed to dominating the news cycle, but as Election Day approaches, the Republican showman’s control of the script is fading.
COVID-19 has ended his favorite big rally platform in loud arenas and his seemingly murderous instinct to define opponents with a single catchy nickname is proving ineffective in the case of the man he calls “the dream Joe.”
The past week has seen Trump endure a torrent of negative headlines.
READ: How a ‘Blue Shift’ to US Mail Ballots Could Unleash Election Week Chaos
An article in The Atlantic citing anonymous sources accusing Trump of repeatedly disparaging the servicemen killed in the war as “losers” and “fools” continues to irritate the White House, despite his energetic attempts to discredit history.
Those allegations are now joined by lurid claims made by his disgraced former repairman and attorney Michael Cohen, whose book “Disloyal” is the latest in a long line of angry hints from former Trump members.
