Donald Trump is collecting far more small-dollar donations than rival Ron DeSantis, data shows, in another sign that the Florida governor's fledging White House bid does not have the grassroots support to go the distance.
The vast majority—82 percent—of the more than $44 million raised from individual contributions by the former president's campaign since the start of the year came from people donating $200 or less, Axios reported, citing data from the Federal Election Commission.
In comparison, just 17 percent of the money the DeSantis campaign has bought in during the same period came from small-dollar donors. The vast majority—71 percent—has come from individuals donating $2,000 or more.
Small-dollar donations help sustain a campaign and are one of the biggest indicators of grassroots support for a candidate. In contrast, high-dollar donors can't contribute more money if they max out on the contributions they can make early in a candidate's campaign.
It's another sign that Trump, who has built a robust network of small-dollar donors, is poised to claim the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination. Opinion polls have shown DeSantis is lagging behind Trump in the race.
"Trump's nickel-and-dime fundraising is reflective of strong, grassroots support," Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London in the U.K., told Newsweek.
"It's the best sign he could ask for because ultimately it's rank-and-file GOP voters who are going to decide the primaries."
The "big money that's disproportionately flowed to DeSantis shows he's popular with party elites," Gift added. "But it also reinforces the narrative that he's largely failed to excite a broader slice of the Republican electorate."
Newsweek has contacted the DeSantis and Trump campaigns for comment via email.
Just two months after entering the race, DeSantis' campaign has already shown signs of financial strain.
Although the DeSantis campaign raised more than $20 million in the first six weeks he was in the race, it burned through about $8 million in the same period paying for staffers, luxury travel and a large security detail.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the campaign had cut around a dozen staff as part of cost-cutting measures.
Politico first reported earlier in July that two senior advisers on the campaign—Dave Abrams, the campaign's communications adviser and media director, and Tucker Obenshain, who led external affairs—have left to work on a pro-DeSantis nonprofit.
DeSantis sat down with CNN's Jake Tapper last week, where he dismissed concerns about the state of his 2024 campaign and national polls showing Trump way ahead of him.
"The reality is, this is a state-by-state process," DeSantis said in the interview, his first with a mainstream news outlet since entering the race
"I'm not running a campaign to try to juice, you know, whatever we are in the national polls... so we're focused on building an organization. You've got to get people to come out in the middle of January in Iowa to caucus for you."
