Even Jill Stein is spending more on advertising than Donald Trump


Maybe you've heard — there is going to be a pretty big election in 84 days. The candidates' advertising machines have been kicked into full gear: Hillary Clinton's campaign has spent $61 million on ads, followed by the Green Party's Jill Stein with $189,000, and finally the Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, who has spent $15,000.
That is about $61,204,000 spent by candidates hoping you'll vote for them instead of Donald Trump. And Trump's defense? Well, it's pretty inexpensive: He has spent $0 on ads so far. Outside pro-Trump groups have spent a combined $12.4 million in advertising, compared to the $42 million spent by outside groups backing Clinton.
At this point, Trump has more or less surrendered the airwaves entirely to his competition. Clinton has dominated advertising in battleground states for two months with an almost 9-to-1 advantage in ad spending when outside groups are factored in, NBC News reports. And with Trump in what seems like a nearly irreversible slump, one can't help but wonder if he hears the tick-tock of the clock counting down the minutes to Election Day.
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Trump and the Republican Party raised a combined $82 million last month, with leaves prying minds to wonder even further — what exactly is he doing with all that money, then?
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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