Biden campaign outraises Trump for second straight month

WASHINGTON: Democrat Joe Biden outraised President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign for the second straight month and for the second quarter of 2020, figures released Wednesday showed, highlighting robust enthusiasm for the White House challenger.

Biden, the Democratic National Committee and related fundraisers brought in a staggering US$141 million in June, the campaign’s best fundraising month ever and US$10 million more than Trump and the Republican National Committee.

The second quarter of 2020 was a record haul for both campaigns, with Biden coming out on top, US$282.1 million against Trump’s US$266 million for the April-to-June period.

“This haul means for the second consecutive month we have outraised Donald Trump’s campaign and demonstrates a surge in grassroots energy to elect Joe Biden,” campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

Sixty-eight percent of Biden donors in June, the month he reached the number of delegates needed to become the party’s presidential nominee, were firsttime contributors, she said.

Trump’s campaign reported that it holds a US$295 million war chest. Team Biden did not report its cash-on-hand figures, but Trump’s campaign said it maintains a “vast” advantage over Biden in cash on hand.

Fundraising typically kicks into high gear in the six months before a presidential election, and the record donations in part reflect robust digital and online fundraising efforts by the campaigns during the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden holds a substantial lead of 9.4 percent over the incumbent in national polling, according to a RealClearPolitics poll aggregation. Biden also leads in several swing states that helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, including Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Trump’s approval rating has slid with voters displeased with his handling of the pandemic and the related economic crisis, as well as his response to spirited protests against racial injustice.