CNBC and the Drudge Report have joined forces in order to make President Trump’s fundraising numbers appear horrendously bad. The only problem with that picture is that he’s actually raising more money than Barack Obama did in 2011 and Bush did in 2003. Funny how they forget to mention that, isn’t it?
The news channel’s headline is crystal clear: “The 2020 Democratic field is outraising Trump by a huge margin — that didn’t happen to Obama or Bush.” In the body of the article, CNBC explains that all the Democratic candidates combined have raised three times as much as Trump last year. This, CNBC explains, is a novelty in the modern era: “President Barack Obama’s main GOP challengers barely outraised him in 2011, while President George W. Bush beat his top Democratic rivals’ fundraising in 2003.”
Shocking, shocking. Trump must be much less popular among his own voters than both former presidents!
Drudge loves it:
So, let’s look at the actual numbers. Trump raised $143.8 million in 2019. All Democrats combined took in $515.6 million. That’s enormous, but — as even CNBC is forced to admit — Trump did raise more than any individual Democrat.
Meanwhile, in 2011, Obama “reported $128.3 million in total receipts.” His Republican opponents raised a combined $139 million. And in 2003, Bush raised $132.7 million, which was actually slightly more than his Democrat opponents who had to settle for $130.6 million.
Now, what draws my attention is the fact that Trump has outraised both Obama and Bush in the year prior to their reelection. Obama raised $15.5 million less, Bush $11.1 million. Those are very serious numbers, yet CNBC doesn’t point it out — at all. It’s up to readers to compare the numbers themselves.
Strange that, isn’t it? After all, the headline could then also have been: “Trump Raised More Than Obama and Bush in Pre-Reelection Year.” You’d think they’d at the very least mention that somewhere in the body of the article. But no.
You’d almost think that both CNBC and Drudge are run by a bunch of anti-Trump, liberal hacks.
Nah. That can’t possibly be it, can it?
Let’s be clear: what Democrats are doing is extremely impressive. It goes to show that their base is extremely passionate this time around — more passionate, perhaps, than any party’s base has been in years if not decades.
However, the impression CNBC and Drudge clearly try to give readers — that Trump is underperforming — is simply incorrect. Compared to Obama and Bush, he’s actually doing a heck of a job. It’s just that Democrats are so incredibly riled up that they’re apparently willing to sell their homes or get a second mortgage to donate to their preferred candidate.
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