WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign blew through more than $70 million last month, more than double what it spent in August.
The spending spree came as Trump contended with faltering poll numbers and increased criticism from members of his own party about his rhetoric. The New York real estate mogul, who had previously bragged about how little he was spending on advertising compared with Democrat Hillary Clinton, poured more than $23 million into TV and radio ads last month.
New campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission also show that Trump paid more than $20 million to his longtime digital firm Giles-Parscale. That was nearly as much as the Texas firm had been paid for the rest of the campaign. The company is run by political newcomer Brad Parscale, a friend of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Another big expense last month: Long-ago ousted campaign manager Corey Lewandowski received a total of $100,000.
Lewandowski was fired in June and quickly became a paid contributor to CNN. Over the past few months, he has worked for the network while his firm, Green Monster Consulting, was also drawing $20,000 per month from the campaign. The campaign has said it paid out the rest of Lewandowski’s contract last month, which the filings show came in the form of an $80,000 payment on Sept. 26.
Trump previously announced that he had his best fundraising month yet in September, raising $100 million for his presidential campaign and Republican partners. The reports filed Thursday show that about $55 million of that went to his campaign.
Clinton’s campaign has said she raised $154 million last month. Her September filing is expected to be submitted later Thursday.
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