RNC Spox Insists Media Peddling ‘False Narrative’ About Trump’s Finances

The Republican National Committee on Tuesday denied that new financial reports showing that Donald Trump’s campaign lags behind Hillary Clinton’s by tens of millions of dollars were a cause for concern.

“That’s a false narrative,” Spicer said on CNN’s “At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan.” “You’re looking at the Trump campaign through the prism of the Hillary Clinton campaign. Donald Trump financed his campaign all the way to this point by adding in more of his own personal money. So it’s false to say that he has $1.3 million. If he wanted to get that number up in two seconds, he just strokes a check and it’s up.”

Federal Election Commission reports released Monday revealed that the Trump campaign had only $1.3 million in cash on hand, while the Clinton team had $42.5 million.

Trump relied heavily on free media coverage and loans to his own campaign to fuel his primary season victory. He has leaned on the RNC to raise the funds needed for his general election campaign, telling NBC this weekend that he doesn’t “ask for money.”

Spicer insisted that the campaign has adapted a “fundraising mechanism” now that it has entered the home stretch.

“If you look at the months going forward whether it’s the low dollar activity that we’re seeing in the mail and the phones or the people that really want to meet him at some of the in-person fund-raisers, there’s tremendous intensity,” he told CNN. “As much as I appreciate everyone’s concern over our finances, when you look at it in totality year-over-year, we’re doing really, really well.”

Trump himself seemed uninterested in reaching out to potential donors, releasing a statement on Tuesday saying he could bypass traditional fundraising efforts by putting up “unlimited” cash to support his bid.