Clinton Doubling Trump Campaign Spending

VOA News

Ken Bredemeier

WASHINGTON — Democrat Hillary Clinton is outspending Republican Donald Trump by more than a 2-to-1 margin in their long run to the U.S. presidency. But Trump said Wednesday he’s willing to pump even more of his own money into the campaign in the last two weeks before the November 8 election.

Reports filed by the candidates with the U.S. government show that Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state looking to become the country’s first female president, has raised nearly $950 million and has about $178 million on hand for television advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in the last days ahead of the election. Trump’s campaign has raised about $449 million and has $97 million on hand.

A real estate tycoon, Trump was in Washington Wednesday to officially open his new luxury hotel just blocks from the White House, and he told CNN that he has already spent $100 million of his own money on his campaign.

«I’m prepared to spend more than that if I have to,» he said.

Trump’s chances shrinking

Trump is running for elected office for the first time and is trailing in national polls against Clinton, but he predicted, «We are going to have a tremendous victory. I believe we’re winning.»

Polling analysts, however, say Clinton has about a 9-in-10 chance of becoming the country’s 45th president, replacing President Barack Obama when his second four-year term in office ends January 20.

The government reports show that 25 U.S. presidential candidates – Democrats, Republicans and minor party candidates – raised more than $1.2 billion in direct contributions to their campaigns, most of which began in late 2014 or last year. Independent committees have raised hundreds of millions more to support those campaigns.

In addition, candidates for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives have raised another $1.4 billion for their campaigns.