Biden heads to California to rev up his fundraising in anticipation of a costly rematch with Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden heads to California on Tuesday looking to soak up more cash for his reelection bid during a three-day swing through the state.
Going into the trip, Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that they had collected $42 million in contributions during January from 422,000 donors. Biden ended January with $130 million in cash on hand. Campaign officials said that is the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate at this point in the cycle.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez called the haul "an indisputable show of strength to start the election year."
"While Team BidenHarris continues to build on its fundraising machine, Republicans are divided – either spending money fighting Donald Trump, or spending money in support of Donald Trump's extreme and losing agenda," she said.
The figures suggest Biden is cementing an early cash advantage over Trump, his likely general election opponent. But the numbers still lag what Trump had amassed during a similar period in 2020, when his campaign routinely smashed fundraising records.
Raising money is only part of the equation. How well that cash is spent is also a major factor — as Trump well knows. His 2020 campaign effectively lit his massive cash surpluses on fire through a series of questionable spending decisions.
This year, Trump retains his impressive ability to hoover up campaign cash, particularly from grassroots donors who typically chip in small amounts online. Trump, who hasn't released his January fundraising numbers yet, also faces a new threat to his campaign's finances: the staggering legal bills he racked up while defending himself in four separate criminal cases.
In order to maintain an edge in what's widely expected to be an expensive rematch with Trump, Biden's campaign will need to accelerate his fundraising.
This week's trip to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area will mark Biden's third visit to California in just over two months for political events. He's trying to make up for lost time after largely avoiding the Democratic donor stronghold during last year's strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.
Biden heads first to Los Angeles, where he will take part in a fundraiser. He'll also make campaign stops in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills this week and deliver a policy speech near Los Angeles on Wednesday.