Biden smashes fundraising record with $25m

President’s star-studded campaign event comes as Trump experiences cash crunch with legal bills

JOE BIDEN raised a record-breaking $25million (£19.8million) in a single fundraising event featuring Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and a smattering of celebrities yesterday night.

The Biden-harris campaign arranged a reception at Radio City Music Hall in New York for top donors, some of whom were charged $100,000 for a photograph with the three Democrat presidents.

The event offered donors different tiers of access depending on how much money they donated to the campaign.

Mr Biden, Mr Obama and Mr Clinton were interviewed by Stephen Colbert, a late-night talk show host, and the campaign had booked performers such as Queen Latifah, Lizzo and Ben Platt.

Mr Obama, who served in the White House with Mr Biden as his vice-president from 2009 to 2017, travelled with his old running mate on Air Force One. They waved as they descended the plane’s steps at John F Kennedy International Airport and got into the motorcade for the ride into Manhattan.

The record-breaking fundraising haul comes as Mr Biden is struggling in opinion polls, which show Donald Trump with a consistent lead of between one and three percentage points.

Mr Trump’s campaign has raised significantly less money than Mr Biden’s in recent months, and is experiencing a cash crunch as the Republican nominee attempts to pay his legal bills from campaign funds.

Mr Biden had $155million in cash on hand through the end of February, compared with $37 million for Mr Trump and his Save America political action committee.

At the event, donors could give $100,000 for a photograph with the three presidents, and $250,000 for access to an on-site reception. A donation of $500,000 would secure donors an invitation to a more exclusive gathering. Supporters who made smaller donations were told that they could dial into the event virtually for $25.

Jill Biden, the First Lady, was expected to host an after-party for donors with 500 guests.

“This historic raise is a show of strong enthusiasm for President Biden and Vice President Harris and a testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Biden-harris campaign’s co-chairman.

“Unlike our opponent, every dollar we’re raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election – communicating the president’s historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election.”

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said that the event showed Mr Biden was “mentally deficient” and needed to rely on the support of his predecessors.

Mr Trump’s supporters were sent a text message yesterday morning describing the event as “bad”, adding: “TONIGHT ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!” The former president said on Wednesday that Mr Obama was “spitting in the face” of Americans by supporting Mr Biden. The event comes after Mr Obama was reported to be holding regular calls with Mr Biden’s top strategists, and appeared in person for a campaign meeting at the White House.

Although Mr Biden has emphasised his former boss’s support, his campaign operates differently to Mr Obama’s 2008 and 2012 election bids, with heavy support from the Democratic National Committee. Mr Obama preferred to run his campaigns from a separate office in Chicago.

Also in New York yesterday, Mr Trump attended the wake of Jonathan Diller, a police officer who was gunned down at a traffic stop on Monday evening.