Money talks in politics, and it was never louder than in the 2020 presidential election.
According to figures provided to the Federal Election Commission, 2020 was the most expensive in history with over $4.9 billion spent, enough to give every voter $22.
And, according to an analysis of those numbers by the reform group Issue One, Joe Biden and his associated groups outspent President Trump and his team, significantly.
In a list of 12 highlights, Issue One made this a big point:
“$2.74 billion: The total amount of money that was spent by the campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as well as by outside groups supporting them during the general election. Biden and his allies controlled about 61% of this sum ($1.68 billion), while Trump and his allies controlled about 39% ($1.06 billion).”
And top researcher Michael Beckel tweeted this key point, “The 10 top-spending super PACs accounted for more than 60% of all spending by non-candidate groups in the 2020 presidential race. The top 4 each spent more than $100 million.”
New @IssueOneReform analysis of @FEC data: The 10 top-spending super PACs accounted for more than 60% of all spending by non-candidate groups in the 2020 presidential race. The top 4 each spent more than $100 million https://t.co/2URGTImIIp
— Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) December 15, 2020
Strip away the money injected by PACs and other outside groups, and Biden still outspent Trump by a country mile, said the analysis.
“Biden’s campaign alone spent about $1.01 billion, while Trump’s campaign spent about $710 million. In other words, Biden’s campaign spent nearly $1.50 for every $1 Trump’s did,” it said.
As the campaign neared the end, there were reports dismissed by the Trump campaign that the president was running low on money. But inside, confidence was high because in 2016, he ran a winning bid on far less money than loser Hillary Rodham Clinton.
See the full list here.
