Democrats are seeing a flood of grassroots donations and big donors reaching out after President Biden dropped out of the presidential race Sunday afternoon in a stunning move he said was in the best interests of the Democratic Party and the nation.
According to ActBlue, Democrats raised more than $5 million in donations within an hour of Biden making his shock announcement.
By the end of the three-hour Sunday afternoon, the avalanche of donations had grown to nearly $16 million online, and more money was still coming in. In just 20 minutes, another $1 million was raised Sunday evening.
In just over four hours, the total amount had grown to almost $25 million.
It’s not yet clear where all those donations are going. ActBlue’s tracker includes total donations, so it would include the national party, Biden’s campaign and other Democrats.
President Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee, sparking a flood of donations to Democrats online
But after Biden dropped out of the race, he announced he would support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race.
‘Today I want to give my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do this,” he posted. The president included a link to raise money for Harris’ candidacy.
Major donors DailyMail.com spoke to after the announcement praised the president’s work and confirmed that donors are streaming back to support Democratic candidates.
A collector told DailyMail.com there has been a ‘HUGE response’, both in terms of the amount raised on Sunday and the number of donors who have gotten in touch.
She said she couldn’t keep up with how many people were messaging her and called the response “wild” and bigger than she could ever have imagined.
Another major donor called the day “bittersweet” for those who have long supported the Biden administration for its tremendous successes and policy initiatives, but said they have “every confidence in and enthusiasm for” Harris.
“She is brilliant, with decades of leadership experience in some of the most demanding roles in politics. I know she will act with the utmost integrity and compassion to help all Americans, even those who don’t know her or may disagree with her,” she said.
“I love Kamala and will definitely support her,” said a third sponsor.
President Biden’s shock announcement came after weeks of questions about his fitness for a second term following his disastrous performance at the June 27 debate.
Since then, more and more Democratic lawmakers have called on him to resign.
Harris supported Biden to the end and praised the work of his administration during the campaign.
ActBlue’s tracking showed a flood of more than $15 million in donations in less than three hours on Sunday afternoon after Biden left the race
After Biden released his letter and endorsed his vice president, Harris officially announced her candidacy for president and filed her candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
Despite her White House bid, Harris is not a sure thing she will get the nomination. No other Democrats have jumped into the race yet, but it could lead to a wild mini-primary season before delegates officially vote on a nominee next month.
While it remains to be seen how much money Democrats will raise and where it will all go, Harris has long been a major driver of donations within the party.
When she was named Biden’s running mate in August 2020, it became then-candidate Biden’s largest campaign fundraising day of the entire election season, with his campaign raising $26 million in the day after Harris was announced on the ticket.