Biden raises $72 MILLION in two months: President, 80, rakes in massive loot – despite behind-the-scenes panic among Democrats over his slow campaign build and growing concerns about his age
- President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign raised more than $72 million
- It is the highest amount raised by a Democratic candidate at this point in the cycle
- Trump and the RNC raised $105 million in the spring of 2019
President Joe Biden has raised more than $72 million in just over two months, his 2024 reelection campaign announced Friday.
It’s the first time Biden’s operation has had to report a fundraising number in 2024 — and it’s the most a Democratic presidential nominee has raised in history at this point in the campaign cycle.
It falls short of the amount President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee collectively raised in the spring of 2019 — that amount was $105 million — but is higher than what Trump as a 2024 candidate raised this quarter — $35 million.
It’s because the Democrats are privately concerned about the Biden campaign — which only started on April 25 and got off to a slow start — with CNN reporting Thursday that the opening of the Wilmington campaign headquarters has been postponed and that key staff positions, such as CFO, remain unfilled.
Some of the most pessimistic Democrats, the network said, have even reached out to potential presidential candidates and told them to prepare should the 80-year-old Biden drop his 2024 bid.
President Joe Biden speaks June 17 in Philadelphia at an official campaign launch event. The incumbent president raised $72 million in just over two months, his re-election campaign announced Friday
“If Trump wins in November and everyone says, ‘How did this happen?’ one of the questions will be: what did the Biden campaign do in the summer of 2023?’ a senior official with Biden’s 2020 campaign told CNN.
The strong fundraising totals will likely calm those nerves.
“I’m pleased to announce that our campaign has raised more than $72 million since April thanks to donors across the country,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a video.
“We have seen incredible enthusiasm for the agenda of President Biden and Vice President Harris, including their commitment to restoring democracy, fighting for more freedoms and growing the economy by growing the middle class,” she said. “As the Republicans burn through resources in a divisive primaries focused on who can take the most extreme MAGA positions, we significantly outnumber each of them.”
After Trump, the Republican contender to raise the most money was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who raised $20 million in just six weeks — and can also be helped by another $130 million raised by a pro-DeSantis super PAC.
Rodriguez said Biden’s donations came from about 394,000 people, who made 70,000 contributions.
She said 97 percent of those donations were less than $200, when the average amount donated to the campaign was just $39.
Rodriguez also said that 30 percent of those who donated to the Biden-Harris campaign were new donors and had not given money to the 2020 effort.
Overall, she said the campaign has $77 million in cash on hand.
More information will become available once full financial reports are submitted to the Federal Election Commission for the second quarter, which began April 1 and ended June 30.
The deadline for this is Saturday.