Even Jill Stein is spending more on advertising than Donald Trump

Donald Trump is being outspent by Hillary Clinton.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published August 16, 2016

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.