New York: Hillary Clinton pulled in $295 million (Dh1.08 billion) in the third quarter through a joint fundraising committee with the Democratic party, adding to her financial advantage over Donald Trump heading into the final weeks of the campaign.
The disclosures with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday show that Clinton continues to draw support from a wide range of donors, including celebrities, tech figures and hedge-fund operators. Contributions from donors who’ve given $100,000 or more to her joint fundraising committees made up $84.3 million of her take. Small-dollar donations of $200 or less accounted for $39.7 million.
Clinton, whose fundraising has long outstripped Trump’s, is getting an additional boost as Trump’s campaign continues to deal with the fallout from a 2005 video in which the Republican nominee remarks about adultery and groping women. The contents of the video, which was made public earlier this month, prompted several Republican lawmakers to disavow Trump’s candidacy.
“I’ve had people contact me who know I’ve been helping Hillary all along who now want to give,” said former Michigan Governor James Blanchard, one of Clinton’s fundraisers. “I’ve been trying to get them to give for a year-and-a-half, and now they want to write a check.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Walt Disney president and CEO Robert Iger were among those making their first six-figure contributions to Clinton’s joint fundraising effort in the third quarter. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, actor Ben Affleck, designer Calvin Klein and movie producers Jeffrey Katzenberg, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg contributed as well.
They were joined by some of Clinton’s biggest longtime donors. Chicago publisher Fred Eychaner, entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl, as well as hedge fund manager S. Donald Sussman each contributed $200,400 to the Hillary Action Fund. Combined, they’ve also given $31 million to Priorities USA, the main super-PAC supporting Clinton.
—Bloomberg
