Donald Trump is counting on heavy financial backing from an array of super PACs to get him elected — far more than Kamala Harris is.
The groups supporting Trump, working across different platforms to get him elected, spent far more money than the president’s own campaign in a crucial stretch before the election. Harris’ massive operation, meanwhile, still spent more than the outside groups backing her.
The six largest Trump-supporting super PACs spent a combined $159.6 million in the first 16 days of October, compared to $99 million in spending from the former president’s campaign, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission this week.
Super PACs aren’t new, and Vice President Kamala Harris is getting plenty of support from them too. The three largest Harris-supporting super PACs spent a similar $154.5 million over the same period — still less than the $165.8 million spent by the Harris campaign.
The outside money plays an outsized role because of the two campaigns’ wildly different financial circumstances: Trump has struggled with fundraising compared to Harris and has not built out much infrastructure in terms of campaign staff and swing-state offices. As a result, he has relied more on outside groups not only for traditional support across TV, radio and digital platforms, but for canvassing and texting operations that the Democratic side has largely kept in-house.