Exclusive– The Silent Majority: How Team Trump Created a Nationwide Army of Volunteer Fundraisers

President Donald Trump’s reelection team’s finance arm has, campaign officials told Breitbart News, focused its fundraising efforts on channeling the “silent majority” through a variety of new approaches like decentralizing the operation, empowering congressional and state leaders as volunteer bundlers, and building out a grassroots-driven operation in all 50 states.

Since Kimberly Guilfoyle took over as the national chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committee (TVFC) in mid-January, she has, according to campaign officials, opened up bundling capabilities to a much broader swath of Trump supporters, thereby swelling the ranks of Trump campaign bundlers from around 800 up to more than 6,500 — multiplying the number of bundlers more than eight times than what was there when she started.

“I am thrilled to be part of President Trump’s incredible team,” Guilfoyle told Breitbart News. “America is firmly behind President Trump, we have the energy, resources and enthusiasm. The silent majority of donors that support President Trump will ensure victory in November.”

Guilfoyle also shifted away from a model of having national headquarters-centric campaign fundraisers via contract into a state-based grassroots model with what the Trump Victory Finance Committee team calls co-chairs in all 50 states. In so doing, she cut out the middleman so to speak and went straight to the bundler or ground-level in the states by bringing onto the actual team bundlers located out in the battleground states and elsewhere around the country who can raise money directly from their community contacts. What this does, several involved in the operation say, is harness the energy that Trump has in the grassroots of the GOP, injecting it directly into the fundraising effort — cutting around the donor and lobbyist class with which Trump often clashes. There are a number of states, too, that also have state directors on staff for the Trump Victory Finance Committee.

“Under President Trump, women have experienced record low unemployment as this President and his Administration have continuously prioritized empowering women to pursue careers and realize their full economic potential,” Dr. Gina Loudon, the Trump Victory co-chair for Women for Trump, told Breitbart News. “As Kimberly and I engage with Trump supporters across this country, they are honored to have the opportunity to financially support President Trump.”

The Trump Victory Finance Committee has also built into its fundraising structure what looks like more traditional grassroots coalition organizing arms.

“When Kimberly asked me to be the TVFC Co-Chair of Black Voices for Trump, I was thrilled to accept!” Jack Brewer, TVFC Black Voices for Trump co-chairman, told Breitbart News. “This President has done more to produce REAL results for the black community than anyone President in history. I ask folks, give what you can and so we don’t wake up to a President-Elect Joe Biden on November 3rd.”

In other words, Trump Victory Finance Committee has essentially meshed grassroots folks together with traditional mega-donors and bundlers. Guilfoyle’s fundraising team includes staffers who have worked for Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and the Republican National Committee (RNC) among other committees and candidates.

“Kimberly is one of the President’s strongest and hardest-working advocates, and he is lucky to have her fighting in his corner,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Breitbart News.

“Kimberly is a rockstar,” John A. Catsimatidis, a New York City businessman and GOP mega-donor, told Breitbart News. “Kimberly is the right person for fundraising because donors love her and she works tirelessly for the President. Her total focus and dedication is winning in November.”

“Month after month, the Trump Victory Finance Committee’s juggernaut fundraising operation continues to produce unprecedented numbers while engaging countless grassroots supporters across the country,” Jeff Miller, a Trump Victory Finance Committee advisory board member and high-profile GOP fundraiser, added in a statement to Breitbart News. “Through her bold leadership and unparalleled outreach, Kimberly Guilfoyle has activated donors to re-elect President Trump for four more years.”

That’s why Miller was so shocked to see recent attack pieces against Guilfoyle and the president’s fundraising team in Politico and the New York Times. In them, one person who claims to be a major donor to pro-Trump causes, Dan Eberhart, is quoted questioning the direction of the Trump Victory Finance Committee. But Miller shot back at him on Twitter saying he has not seen him around GOP fundraisers:

@DanKEberhart how on earth are you considered a reputable source for these stories. I raise a ton of $$ for GOP causes – more than most – and I never see you anywhere. You being quoted as a major donor is beyond a joke. It’s just plain B.S. The definition of fake news. https://t.co/EaLln0yeOk

— (((Jeff Miller))) (@JeffMillerCA2TX) July 27, 2020

Guilfoyle’s team is just part of the broader Trump 2020 fundraising operation, as she oversees bundlers who raise bigger amounts. Combined with RNC efforts, as well as digital fundraising, which is overseen by digital director Gary Coby, the president’s team has been a fundraising juggernaut. While former Vice President and presumptive 2020 Democrat nominee Joe Biden out-raised Trump the last couple months because of joint fundraising agreements he was able to enter with the Democrat National Committee (DNC) and various state Democrat parties after winning the nomination, Biden under-performed in this moment. In 2012, for instance, then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney raised $106 million compared to then-President Barack Obama’s $71 million when Romney became the presumptive nominee and was able to form “Romney Victory.” The limits for “Romney Victory” were much lower than “Biden Victory,” with the former down at just $75,800 per person and the latter at $620,600 per person.

So, as June rolled around as the first month Biden could expand the war chest, one would expect a much stronger performance than just $141 million as the challenger candidate the first month he could use these joint fundraising agreements within. It was also — unlike Romney’s $35 million advantage in 2012 over Obama the first month he had the joint fundraising agreement — just a $10 million advantage over Trump who raised $131 million that month.

The establishment media portrayed Biden out-hauling Trump as a major win for the Democrat challenger but left out much of this critical context. Meanwhile, the president’s team at Guilfoyle’s and Donald Trump Jr.’s invitation, hosted his first virtual fundraiser last week at which he raised $20 million in one night. Much of that came in through Coby’s digital channels, but a large sum came in through bundlers as well.

Coby told Breitbart News that the high numbers of digital fundraising for the president prove the silent majority Trump speaks of — which carried him over the top into the White House in 2016 — are alive and well and ready to vote again in November 2020.

“When people donate to a campaign, they become personally invested,” Coby said. “And when they’re personally invested, they vote. We have an army of Silent Majority Donors who don’t engage with fake news pollsters, but you can bet they’ll show up for President Trump on November 3rd.”

Another element of what Guilfoyle has created that is particularly interesting — and totally new for a Victory Committee for a presidential campaign — is that she has turned members of Congress as well as other top GOP lawmakers at the state level into bundlers for the Trump campaign. The first-of-its-kind elected officials program at Trump Victory includes 138 members of the U.S. House of Representatives chaired by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, 25 U.S. Senators chaired by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and 71 statewide elected officials like governors, lieutenant governors, and state attorneys general nationwide.

“When it comes to raising valuable resources and connecting with voters, Kimberly Guilfoyle is putting on a master class,” McCarthy said in a statement. “As National Chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, Kimberly has done an outstanding job promoting President Trump’s America First agenda and inspiring Republican voters nationwide. I’m confident her tireless work ethic will help ensure President Trump’s re-election this November.”

“Kimberly has done a phenomenal job for the president,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) added in a statement to Breitbart News. “She is one of the hardest workers I know, and will ensure President Trump has the resources to win.”

Other U.S. House members and state elected officials also commended the Trump Victory team under Guilfoyle’s leadership. “I’ve heard from so many of my constituents how excited they are to be joining the TVFC bundling program and working to get President Trump reelected,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), one of the top congressional bundlers for the program, told Breitbart News. “It’s a real game changer to include small dollar donors in the fundraising game and get them mobilized and tap into money some campaigns might otherwise ignore.”

“When you look at the numbers, there’s no operation in the political game achieving what the Trump Victory Finance Committee is under Kimberly Guilfoyle’s leadership,” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said. “If you want to measure the enthusiasm for President Trump, just look at the work people are doing for this campaign and the impact it’s having on this election.”

Jeff Landry, the Attorney General of Louisiana and the chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), said the effort has energized the president’s supporters.

“Kimberly Guilfoyle is leading a world-class political operation through her Trump Victory Finance Committee Bundler Program,” Landry said. “You look at the Biden campaign and what voters are they engaging? There’s no comparison – Kimberly’s Finance Committee is going to help deliver us a huge victory on Election Night. She is not only a great political operative she is an unbelievably talented lawyer and I’m honored to serve as a Co-Chair for the Trump Victory Finance Committee.”

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, another bundler for the Trump Victory program, added that the “scope” of what Guilfoyle has built is helping the president’s team significantly.

“I think people need to really appreciate the scope of Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Trump Victory Finance Committee,” Evette told Breitbart News. “You have everyone from your grassroots fundraiser to Congressmen and Senators all working in unison to raise money for President Trump. It’s very impressive, being able to have so many moving parts working together so effectively.”