Former Vice President Mike Pence’s presidential campaign is failing so badly that he is unlikely to hit the donor threshold required to participate in the first GOP debate.
To make it to the debate stage, a candidate must have 40,000 donors — which Pence has not hit.
According to a report from the New York Times, who says they spoke to two campaign aides, Pence’s campaign has raised just $1.2 million.
To put that figure into perspective, former President Donald Trump has raised $35 million in the second quarter, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has raised $20 million.
Strangely, Pence’s team seems to be putting in very little effort to try and qualify.
“Unlike other candidates who have employed online gimmicks to secure 40,000 donors, Mr. Pence has invested little in seeking out contributors on the internet,” the Times report states. “His campaign has spent just $14,230 in advertising on Facebook and Google, according to data collected by Bully Pulpit Interactive, a marketing and communications agency, a figure that is one-fortieth of what has been spent on those platforms by Vivek Ramaswamy, a political newcomer who joined the race in February.”
“In an admission of its struggle to raise money online, the Pence campaign plans to spend a large bulk of what it has raised on a robust direct-mail program aimed at helping him accrue enough donors to qualify for the first debate,” the report added.
Committed to America, a political action committee supporting Pence’s presidential aspirations, raised $2.7 million during the April-June reporting period that ended on June 30. The report noted that for an organization that can receive unlimited contributions, this figure is also small.
Pence is unlikely to receive a boost this week after crashing and burning during an interview with Tucker Carlson.
Tucker: “Every city in America has become worse over the past few years… Your concern is that Ukraine don’t have enough tanks… Where’s the concern for America in that?”
Pence: “That’s not my concern.” pic.twitter.com/u2RlmmrhtM
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 14, 2023
Pence’s former boss, Trump, is currently the Republican frontrunner by a large margin.