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Republican political consultant and former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove questioned where former President Donald Trump will be spending his $120 million donor-supplied war chest for the midterm elections.
Trump, who has four political action committees, possesses $103.1 million, $10.3 million, $7.3 million, and $700,000 in each respective committee, giving the former president more than $121 million on hand as of June 30, according to Rove’s latest piece for the Wall Street Journal.
GOP VOTERS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN SEND TRUMP PACKING
Because of campaign laws, direct contributions to Republican congressional candidates would only scratch the surface of the funds available. Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, has given the legal maximum donation of $5,000 to 60 House and 13 Senate candidates, according to Rove. However, even if he did donate funds to every Republican candidate, it would only account for $2.35 million of the remaining funds.
Trump could use the funds through independent expenditures, Rove noted. Independent expenditures include the costs of airing television ads or text messaging and phone advertisements. Although Trump is legally unable to coordinate the donations with the candidates, he is allowed to donate to people who are clearly struggling.
Trump has already donated some funds through independent expenditures, according to Rove, including Save America, handing over $2 million to a Georgia group in an effort that failed to defeat Gov. Brian Kemp, $500,000 to a super PAC backing a primary challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney, $193,000 toward TV ads for Herschel Walker’s Senate run, $69,400 backing Adam Laxalt in the Senate primary in Nevada, and nearly $25,000 to Mehmet Oz’s Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, according to the article. Walker, Oz, and Laxalt all won their respective primary races.
Rove added that the finances appear to come from smaller donations among a larger supporter base. All of Trump’s PACs raised $51 million in total from smaller donations, according to a January press release from Trump’s Save America PAC. The average donation Trump received between his committees was $31, with a total of 1,631,648 donations, an ABC News report in February claimed, citing the press release.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The former president has hinted at a 2024 presidential run since he left office in January of 2021. However, Rove noted, Trump can’t use the funds for his own presidential campaign because announcing another run for the White House ahead of the midterm elections would mandate the creation of a new PAC, according to federal election lawyers.
