Report: RNC Donations Hit 8-Year Low

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Wendell Husebo

Donations to the Republican National Committee (RNC) have hit an eight-year low, sources told the Washington Post on Monday.

The diminished donations raise concerns about whether or not RNC leadership is properly aligned with the party’s grassroots to counter an unpopular Democrat president seeking reelection.

RELATED VIDEO — RNC Chair McDaniel: We Will Support Trump as GOP Nominee if He Is a Convicted Criminal:

Ten people familiar with the matter told the Post that big donors and small donors are not giving as much money to the RNC as they have in the past.

The RNC raised the lowest amount of money since former President Trump arose as the leader of the GOP, the Post reported:

  • The Republican National Committee disclosed that it had $9.1 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 30, the lowest amount for the RNC in any Federal Election Commission report since February 2015.
  • That compares with about $20 million at the same point in the 2016 election cycle and about $61 million four years ago, when Trump was in the White House.
  • The Democratic National Committee reported having $17.7 million as of Oct. 30, almost twice as much as the Republican Party, with one year before the election.

“I think there’s more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, I’ll be there. That’s what I hear more than anything. And they’re really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told the Post. “There’s nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that we’ll be working together to win the White House.”

RELATED VIDEO — Vivek Slams RNC for Picking NBC for Debate, Calls for McDaniel’s Resignation: “Party of Losers”:

Though many grassroots donations are directed away from the RNC and toward the Trump campaign and his many legal battles, some Republicans counter McDaniel’s claims of normalcy with strong arguments:

  • Election defeats: Some Republicans doubt the RNC’s effectiveness after several recent election defeats.
  • Periodic reports of financial mismanagement: Greedy grifting by high ranking RNC aides.

The disconnect appeared on display when GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy ripped McDaniel during the November 8 GOP debate for picking NBC News as the third debate network host.

“Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost in 2018, 2020, 2022. No red wave ever came. We got trounced last night in 2023. And I think that we have to have accountability in our party,” he said.

The RNC told Breitbart News its fundraising numbers are comparatively on par with the DNC and previous cycles:
  • Without transfers, when comparing to sister committees and Democrat committees, the RNC beats every other committee in direct fundraising by $10 million, except the DCCC.
  • The RNC outraised the DNC in February, March, May, and August in 2023.
  • When comparing the current RNC fundraising to DNC in previous years without an incumbent (2020, 2016), the RNC is either on par or outraising them at this point in the cycle:
  •        On par with DNC raising in 2020, outraising the DNC in 2016 by over $22 million.         
  •        For cash on hand, the RNC have more than the DNC did at this point in the cycle for both 2020 and 201d     

Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.