RFK Jr. is still drawing more backing from Trump donors, even as an independent
The newest campaign filings also show him spending a lot more than he’s taking in.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign took in more from donors who gave in the past to former President Donald Trump than President Joe Biden even after he left the Democratic primary to run as an independent.
All told, Kennedy, who announced his independent run in early October, brought in more than $7 million from October through December.
Of that total, $5 million came from itemized donations greater than $200. Roughly $224,000 of those itemized donations were from donors who had given to Trump’s 2020 campaign, according to a POLITICO analysis of the filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission late Tuesday. By contrast, just $105,000 came from donors to Biden’s last campaign.
Those figures continue a trend that was apparent when Kennedy was running in the Democratic primary, further suggesting that he might garnish more interest from Trump supporters if the two of them and Biden face off in the general election.
But Kennedy’s campaign is also facing a cash crunch. From October through December, his campaign spent a whopping $7.7 million — more than it raised during that period — leaving just $5.4 million in its account as of Dec. 31.
The burn rate underscores the financial challenges the former environmental lawyer and prominent vaccine skeptic faces as the campaign heats up.
Staff salaries accounted for $1.1 million of the Kennedy campaign’s spending, the largest single expense category. The campaign also spent another $740,000 on campaign consulting and digital media consulting. Other major expense categories included more than $500,000 on private security and $464,000 on media production.
Although Kennedy still received more from former Trump donors, the number of donors giving more than $200 to his campaign who had previously given at least that amount to Trump dropped slightly compared to the third quarter. Notably, Kennedy is now planning to run against Trump in the general election, as opposed to facing off only with Biden in the Democratic primary.