>>> WELCOME BACK, AND WE HAVE
MORE DETAILS TONIGHT AS TO
EXACTLY HOW THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
SQUANDERED ITS $200 MILLION CASH
ADVANTAGE OVER JOE BIDEN
MORE SPECIFICALLY, WHAT HAPPENED
TO JUST UNDER $1 BILLION RAISED?
ACCORDING TO "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" REPORTING, QUOTE, AMONG
THE SPLASHIEST AND PERHAPS MOST
QUESTIONABLE PURCHASES WAS A
PAIR OF SUPER BOWL ADS THE
CAMPAIGN RESERVED FOR
$11 MILLION ACCORDING TO
ADVERTISING ANALYTICS, MORE THAN
IT HAS SPENT ON TV IN SOME TOP
BATTLEGROUND STATES.
IT WAS A VANITY SPLURGE THAT
ALLOWED MR. TRUMP TO MATCH THE
BILLION NRA MIKE BLOOMBERG’S BUY
FOR THE GAME
WITH US TONIGHT, THE REPORTER
WHO SHARES THE BYLINE ON THAT
REPORT, AND ANDREA BERNSTEIN
SHE’S A PEABODY AWARD-WINNING
CO-HOST OF THE PODCAST TRUMP
INCORPORATED, A JOINT PRODUCTION
OF PROPUBLICA AND WNYC
SHE WAS LAST WITH US TO TALK
ABOUT HER BOOK, CONVENIENTLY
TITLED "AMERICAN OLIGARCHS: THE
KUSHNERS, THE TRUMP, AND THE
MARRIAGE OF MONEY AND POWER.
THERE IT IS.
IT’S A LOT
WELCOME TO YOU BOTH.
SHANE, IT’S SOMETIMES UNFAIR TO
ASK A JOURNALIST TO LOOK AT
THEIR OWN WORK DISPASSIONATELY,
BUT I’D LIKE YOU TO DO JUST
THAT
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STANDOUTS
IF YOU’RE TELLING SOMEONE IN THE
60-SECOND VERSION WHAT YOU
UNCOVERED ABOUT HOW THIS
CAMPAIGN HAS SPENT ITS MONEY
>> I MEAN I THINK THE FIRST
STANDOUT IS THAT DONALD TRUMP
RAISED $1.1 BILLION WITH THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY SINCE THE
BEGINNING OF 2019, AND NEARLY 33
CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR RAISED
WENT TO FUND-RAISING COSTS
SO AN ENORMOUS SHARE OF THE
MONEY WAS JUST SUNK INTO THE ACT
OF RAISING THE MONEY
AND AT THIS POINT REALLY THE
STORY IS, AS YOU STARTED, HE
BEGAN THE GENERAL ELECTION
PERIOD WITH CLOSE TO A
$200 MILLION EDGE OVER JOE
BIDEN, AND THE QUESTION THAT YOU
AND OTHERS HAD WAS, CAN JOE
BIDEN RAISE ENOUGH MONEY TO
COMPETE, OR COULD DONALD TRUMP
BURY JOE BIDEN FINANCIALLY IN
THIS RACE?
NOW, BY MIDSUMMER, IT WAS CLEAR
THAT JOE BIDEN WAS COMPETITIVE,
AND NOW WE’RENT RING ENTERING TH
STRETCH AND THERE ARE SOME TRUMP
OFFICIALS TALKING ABOUT CONCERNS
OF A CASH CRUNCH AND LOOKING AT
GETTING OUTSPENT BY JOE BIDEN.
THIS STORY WAS LOOKING INTO
WHERE EXACTLY DID THE
$800 MILLION THAT THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN AND THE REPUBLICAN
NATIONAL PARTY SPENT GO IN AND
THE ANSWER IS, YOU KNOW, THAT
THERE ARE QUESTIONS AMONG A LOT
OF REPUBLICANS AS TO WHERE IT
WENT BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP IS
BEHIND AT A KEY JUNCTURE IN THIS
RACE AND LOOKING AT GETTING
OUTSPENT ON THE AIRWAVES ALMOST
FOR THE DURATION GOING FORWARD
>> ANDREA, THE PRESIDENT LOVES
SAYING HE’S WILLING TO DROP
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
ON HIS CAMPAIGN, SPEND SOME OF
HIS PERSONAL FORTUNE
DOES HE HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY?
>> WELL, ACCORDING TO HIS
DISCLOSURES, HE DOES NOT
HIS RECENT FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
FORMS SHOWED BETWEEN $50 MILLION
AND $150 MILLION IN ASSETS
SO THERE IS A REAL QUESTION
ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY DONALD
TRUMP HAS, AND HE ALWAYS HAS A
LOT OF MONEY WHEN HE WANTS IT TO
LOOK LIKE HE HAS A LOT OF MONEY
AND THEN NOT A LOT OF MONEY WHEN
THE TAX ASSESSORS AND WHATNOT
COME CALLING
HE HAS A UNITARY BUSINESS MODEL.
I MEAN THIS REMINDS ME OF ONE OF
HIS CASINOS IN ATLANTIC CITY
WENT BUST BECAUSE REGULATORS
SAID HE RENOVATED IT TO APPEAL
TO HIGH ROLLERS WHEN ITS MARKET
WAS MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE.
AND THAT LOOKS LIKE WHAT HE’S
DONE WITH HIS CAMPAIGN, THAT HE
HAS SPENT ALL OF HIS MONEY ON
THINGS THAT MOST CAMPAIGNS WOULD
NOT SPEND MONEY ON
AND NOW IN THE HOME STRETCH,
HE’S SORT OF LOOKING AROUND THE
COUCH CUSHIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT
HE’S GOT ENOUGH MONEY TO FUND
THE REMAINDER OF THE CAMPAIGN.
WE SHOULDN’T BE SURPRISED
BECAUSE THIS IS THE WAY DONALD
TRUMP HAS RUN HIS BUSINESS WITH
MANY, MANY FAILURES AND THEN
WHEN HE NEEDS THE MONEY, HE
ACTUALLY BORROWS IT OR ASKS