Donald Trump likes to say that he is so rich, he neither needs, nor is taking, other people’s money for his presidential campaign.
“I’m not going to take any money,” he said at a March 11 press conference. “I don’t want any money.”
But those boasts don’t match the federally reported facts.
While it is true that Trump’s largest source of campaign funds has been cash that he controls, an analysis by NBC 5 Investigates shows that the GOP frontrunner has raked in millions from loyal supporters across America.
Federal Election Commission records show that as of Jan. 31, the last date for which reports were due, Trump had received $7,407,238 from individuals. The majority of those contributions, over $5.8 million, were in amounts of $200 or less.
Voters in rival Ted Cruz’s home state of Texas have been most generous to Trump, with $211,596 in contributions. California is next, with $208,891, followed by Florida voters, who have contributed $202,380.
Illinois has not been a significant source of Trump campaign cash, with voters here offering only $47,847.
The largest share of that cash has come from the northern suburbs, $11,109, followed by $8,617 from residents of Chicago, and $5,996 from voters in the western suburbs.
Trump’s largest source of cash is from himself, but it isn’t a contribution. Federal records show that the billionaire real estate mogul has loaned his campaign $17,534,058. On a personal level, he has contributed only a relatively paltry $250,318.96.
By contrast, Trump’s most formidable opponent in Illinois, Ted Cruz, has raised over $54 million from individuals. His largest source of cash is his home state of Texas, which has contributed over $15.5 million. Here in Illinois, where Cruz was behind by 9 points in the latest NBC News poll, voters have contributed $676,155. The largest share of that, $125,826, came from voters in the northern suburbs.
By far, of the candidates left in the race, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has done the best in Illinois. Federal records show Rubio had collected $833,727 in Illinois, as of Jan. 31. The largest portion of that, $371,767, came from voters in Chicago.
Indeed, while Illinois voters have contributed $9.2 million dollars to candidates in this election cycle, the NBC5 analysis shows that Trump is far down on that list. While Rubio and Cruz lead the way, seven GOP candidates who have dropped out, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Lindsey Graham, have all raised more money in Illinois than Donald Trump.
One other active candidate, Ohio governor John Kasich, has received $274,626 from Illinois voters.
