Biden stretches fundraising lead
$192M-plus on hand most ever for Democratic candidate
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee said Saturday that they raised more than $90 million in March and ended the year’s first quarter with $192 million-plus in cash on hand, further stretching their money advantage over Donald Trump and the Republicans.
The Biden campaign and its affiliated entities reported collecting $187 million from January through March and said that 96% of all donations were less than $200.
That total was bolstered by the $26 million-plus that Biden reported raising from a March 28 event at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan that featured former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Biden’s campaign says the pace of donations has allowed it to undertake major digital and television advertising campaigns in key states and to work with the DNC and state parties to better mobilize would-be supporters before the November election.
The campaign said the $192 million-plus as of March 31 was the highest total ever by any Democratic candidate. About 1.6 million people have donated to the campaign since Biden announced in April 2023 that he was seeking a second term. The campaign raised more than $10 million in the 24 hours after the president’s State of the Union speech in early March.
“The money we are raising is historic, and it’s going to the critical work of building a winning operation, focused solely on the voters who will decide this election — offices across the country, staff in our battleground states, and a paid media program meeting voters where they are,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. She scoffed at “Trump’s cash-strapped operation that is funneling the limited and billionaire-reliant funds it has to pay off his various legal fees.”
“While Donald Trump has been busy awarding himself golf trophies at Mar-a-Lago and palling around with billionaires, Joe Biden has been crisscrossing the nation connecting with voters and outlining his vision to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement, referring to Trump’s Florida residence.
Trump campaign officials have said they do not expect to raise as much as the Democrats, but will have the money they need. The Biden campaign says its strong fundraising shows enthusiasm for the president, defying his low approval ratings and polls showing that most voters would rather not see a 2020 rematch.
TRUMP FUNDRAISER
Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million on Saturday, a staggering reported haul as his campaign works to catch up to Biden and the Democratic Party.
The reported haul from the event with major donors at the Palm Beach, Fla., home of billionaire investor John Paulson sets a single-event fundraising record.
“It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,” his campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
The event, billed as the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” sends a signal of a resurgence of Trump and the Republican Party’s fundraising, which has lagged behind Biden and the Democrats.
Trump boasted about his evening with wealthy donors in a post on his social media network a few hours before he arrived at the event with his wife, Melania Trump: “Biggest night in Fund Raising of ALL TIME!!!Will double up the Biden number of last week at Radio City. People are desperate for change. They want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump and the GOP announced earlier in the week that they raised more than $65.6 million in March and closed out the month with $93.1 million.
Campaign fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission detailing donations from Saturday’s event are not expected until a mid-July filing date.
Saturday’s high-dollar event hosted about 100 guests, including more than a few billionaires. Contributions to the event will go toward the Trump 47 Committee, according to the invitation, a joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties and Save America, a political action committee that pays the bulk of Trump’s legal bills. In an unusual arrangement, the fundraising agreement directs donations to first pay the maximum allowed under law to his campaign and Save America before the RNC or state parties get a cut.
Donors who gave the suggested $814,600 per person or $250,000 per person will only have $5,000 of their donation go to Save America, sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cash-strapped RNC.
The fundraising arrangement doesn’t direct RNC funds to Trump’s legal bills. But when checks of any amount are written to the combined campaign, the campaign and Save America get paid first by default.