Nikki Haley takes on Donald Trump's money machine with $11m haul in 2024 presidential campaign

The campaign of former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley says her campaign raised more in the first three months of her presidential campaign than former President Donald Trump.

Her campaign said the success is the result of her "active retail campaigning" that included hosting 19 events in the early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire.

Trump was a prolific fundraiser in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns and raised more than $100 million since he has been out of office.

Haley's numbers

  • Haley's campaign said it raised $11 million through the end of March. She announced her campaign Feb. 15.

  • The money came from 70,000 people, and 67,000 of them gave $200 or less, according to the campaign.

  • Haley's campaign is ending the quarter with $7.8 million in cash.

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Trump's numbers

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The importance

  • Candidates need money to get their message out to voters, and being able to raise the money in the first place is an early indication of whether a candidate is viable.

  • However, these numbers do not include all the money that can be raised during a campaign cycle. Both candidates have affiliated political action committees that can spend in support of them. Unaffiliated committees can also spend.

  • Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas who recently announced his challenge to Trump, has not reported fundraising through a federal campaign committee yet. Neither has presumed candidate Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, who has not formally announced.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley campaign says she outraised Trump in first quarter