Trump's top GOP allies struggling to keep pace with expenses following Jan. 6 insurrection: report

Some of Donald Trump's top congressional allies are struggling to raise campaign cash as donors tire of their attention-grabbing antics.

Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) raised eye-popping totals last year, with a combined $4.8 million year-over-year increase in 2021 over the previous year, but the "America First" foursome have barely kept pace with their spending in the first quarter of 2022, reported The Daily Beast.

"The campaign that led the way last year has also done the most damage this year," the website reported. "That distinction would go to the Greene campaign, which, after banking $5.2 million last year, kicked off 2022 with a $3 million haul. While stunning, that total didn’t outstrip the record spending that ultimately left her $314,000 in the hole. It was Greene’s first negative fundraising return since she was elected."

Boebert was the only one of the four who didn't turn in a loss for the quarter, but Gaetz, who is under investigation for sex trafficking, and Cawthorn, who faces a number of political challenges, have both been unable to raise enough money to offset the large amounts they've spent on public relations campaigns.

"After losing another $41,300 since January, the Cawthorn campaign only holds about $282,000, a little more than half its stash this time last year. And he’s sapped whatever firepower he might hold in his other committees, in the process rankling potential allies," The Beast reported. "To round out the current on-hand totals, Gaetz — a three-term incumbent — sits on about $1.6 million. Boebert has around $2.2 million. And Greene anchors the crew with $3 million in the bank."

Boebert has the lowest amount of cash on hand since beginning her first term in Congress, after spending a record $700,000 -- including more than $470,000 in media production services to Rock Chalk Media, which is owned by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s brother Alex.

"Over the last year they’ve leaned largely on rhetoric, outrage bait, and media stunts to keep their names — and hopefully some cash — in circulation. And while controversy seems to be a winning gimmick for the Goons, It didn’t always shake out," wrote Beast reporter Roger Sollenberger.

Cawthorn is facing strong primary challengers and losing support among his GOP colleagues, and two $1,000 out-of-state donations turned out to be erroneous, and one of the donors told The Daily Beast theirs might even be fraudulent.

"With midterms rolling around in November, this seems like a particularly bad time for these Republicans to lose money," Sollenberger wrote.