The Republican Party has long been panned by its detractors as the party of big money and big donors — but donation patterns have changed measurably under President Trump, a Fox News analysis of campaign finance data shows.
Sixty-one percent of money raised directly by the Trump campaign this election cyclecame from small donors (donations under $200), according to Federal Election Commission figures.
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That is similar to the proportion Trump raised during the 2016 election cycle, when 65 percent of donations were under $200. And this is dramatically higher than previous Republican nominees. Mitt Romney raised 26 percent of his direct contributions from small donations in 2012, and John McCain raised 25 percent from small donations in 2008.
Campaign finance analysts say the data indicates grassroots enthusiasm for Trump’s populist message.
“Democrats have traditionally been the party that has benefited the most from cultivating a small donor base,” Alex Baumgart, individual contributions researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, which runs the donation database OpenSecrets.com, told Fox News. – READ MORE