Kamala Harris spends significantly more with her campaign funds than Donald Trump

Kamala Harris' campaign spent nearly three times as much money as her rival Donald Trump's in August, according to campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Reuters reported that the vice president's campaign spent $174 million in August, compared to $61 million for Trump's campaign, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Both Harris and Trump said most of their money in August was spent on advertising. Smaller amounts were spent on rallies, travel and campaign salaries. For Harris' campaign, spending on media production and ad buys totaled $137 million. For Trump's campaign, paid media totaled $47 million, according to Politico.

According to Reuters, Harris had $235 million at the end of August, slightly more than at the beginning of the month. Trump, on the other hand, had $135 million at his disposal at the end of the month, $17 million less than at the beginning of the month.

Harris reported earning $190 million in August, while Trump earned $45 million.

Newsweek has emailed Harris and Trump's campaign teams for comment.

Since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic nomination list in July, Harris has faced a flood of donations. In her first week as a presidential candidate, she raised $200 million, according to Axios, and in the first 24 hours after her first debate with Trump, which took place in Philadelphia last week, she also raised $47 million.

But even though Harris has a financial advantage over Trump, that doesn't mean it will bring victory to the vice president. In national polls, Harris leads Trump by 2.8 points, according to FiveThirtyEight's poll average as of Saturday.

In the 2016 presidential election, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton despite raising less money than the Democratic candidate.

Newsweek In early September, Trump reported that he had the upper hand in fundraising through super PACs. As of September 4, PACs supporting Trump had raised $305.6 million since the start of 2024, compared to $199.2 million for PACs supporting Harris. Major donors to Trump included billionaire Timothy Mellon and Linda McMahon, while Harris received support from figures such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman and philanthropist Melinda French Gates.

“Right now, far-right billionaires are pouring money into super PACs for ads designed to deceive and trick voters and turn the tide in their favor. And you are our last line of defense,” Harris' campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in an email on Saturday, which was sent by Newsweek, and urged supporters to donate. “We have built a wave of momentum, but it is fragile. It will break if our donations dry up.”