After former President Donald Trump touted a record-breaking fundraiser in Florida this weekend, leaders of the Republican National Committee (RNC) said they are focused on “key” battleground states — including one where another fundraiser is planned — and districts.
The former president’s daughter-in-law, RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump, spoke on Sunday with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo along with RNC Chairman Michael Whatley about how they are pressing forward after a reported $50.5 million draw at the fundraiser, a figure that almost doubles the amount President Joe Biden’s campaign said it raised at a glitzy New York event, a month into their tenure.
“There are the key battleground states … that we really do have to focus on,” Lara Trump said on “Sunday Morning Futures,” listing Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan as priorities. She said Georgia, which President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020, is another swing state where her father-in-law is setting his sights while another high-dollar fundraiser is set to take place in Atlanta this week.
“You’re going to see another huge fund-raising haul out of that state next week as well from President Trump,” she added. “And so, listen, all the battleground states, we’re highly focused on. There are 19 key counties around the country we must win in order to ensure Donald Trump becomes the 47th president. We are incredibly focused on doing all that.”
The Associated Press said the $50.5 million figure reported by Donald Trump’s re-election campaign from a donor event in Palm Beach, Florida, would be a single-event record that far outmatch Biden’s the $26 million said to be raised at a recent event at Radio City Music Hall in New York that featured celebrities and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
In the days prior, data reported by POLITICO showed Trump and the RNC gathered $65.6 million in March and had $93.1 cash on hand by the end of the month. Those may be strong numbers, but a good deal of money is going toward Trump’s legal bills as he tries to fight off criminal and civil cases. And overall, they would appear to be lagging behind the Biden campaign, which said that it raised $90 million in March and had $192 million on hand.
Whatley said funds raised will be allocated to “core missions” for the RNC, which he described as “getting out the vote and protecting the ballot. He added, “We’re going to make sure that we are focusing on the battleground states and districts where we need to be competitive and making sure that every dollar that we raise is going to be putting lead on target.”