According to a claim circulating online, the movie “Barbie” raised more money in one day than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has his entire life.
False! “Barbie” brought in about $48.2 million in North American theaters on its July 21 opening, plus another $22.3 million in early screenings the night before. DeSantis has raised more than that during his decade of political campaigns for Congress, Florida governor and now president — according to an assessment by the Associated Press.
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is definitely a hit, but the claim being shared on Facebook goes too far.
“Barbie raised more at box office in one day than Ron DeSantis fundraised his entire life,” reads one post, which includes photos of the Republican governor as well as “Barbie” actor and producer Margot Robbie.
That’s incorrect.
During its opening weekend, “Barbie” saw a massive $155 million in ticket sales from North American theaters from 4,243 locations — breaking the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman. Its second weekend saw continued success, taking in some $93 million.
But in terms of a single day, the movie brought in about $48.2 million for its July 21 opening, according to data from Warner Bros.
Even if one includes pre-screenings from the night before, which would bring the haul to $70.5 million, DeSantis’ fundraising has surpassed that figure during his decade of running for public office, though there are different ways to splice the data.
As he runs for president, DeSantis has so far raised about $20.5 million, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission data.
That’s in addition to about $7.1 million that DeSantis raised for his congressional runs, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in U.S. politics. DeSantis first ran for Congress in 2012 and served for three terms before launching his bid for governor in 2018.
Peter Quist, deputy research director for OpenSecrets, noted in an email to The Associated Press that DeSantis’ fundraising total for the Florida governorship depends on whether one counts only his official campaign committee or includes a closely linked political action committee.
DeSantis raised about $271 million while running for governor in 2018 and 2022, according to FollowTheMoney.org, OpenSecrets’ state data website. But Quist noted that DeSantis’ official campaign committee raised about $56.8 million of that total, while a state PAC raised the rest.
“We credit that fundraising to his 2022 campaign because Florida state campaign finance laws allow politicians for state offices to essentially run a PAC, which can spend on ads to support the candidate,” Quist said.
Looking at his political career in the aggregate, DeSantis has raised at least $84.4 million between his runs for Congress, Florida governor and president — but that total reaches $298.6 million if his Florida state PAC is included.
Either way, those figures surpass the revenue brought in for the opening day of “Barbie.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.