President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $85 million in May, which is their second-best fundraising month this election cycle.
But the money raised by Biden and the Democratic National Committee falls far short of the staggering amount raised by former President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee last month.
Announcing their May fundraising numbers Thursday night, the Biden campaign also highlighted that they had a whopping $212 million in cash on hand at the end of May.
“Our strong and consistent fundraising program grew by millions in May, a clear sign of strong and growing enthusiasm for the president and vice president each month,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said in a statement.
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President Biden’s re-election campaign chastised MSNBC and CNN on Wednesday for ignoring a “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” rally in Philadelphia. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Biden’s announcement came on the last day that presidential campaigns had to submit their May fundraising numbers to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
But the Trump campaign didn’t wait for the deadline to promote its May fundraiser.
The former president’s campaign announced two and a half weeks ago that they and the RNC, buoyed in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, collectively raised a staggering $141 million in fundraising in May.
That was up from the $76 million they raised in April, when they bested President Biden and the Democratic National Committee for the first time in their 2024 election rematch.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on May 30, 2024 in New York City after being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
Highlighting his popular appeal, Trump’s campaign said the average dollar donation was $70.27 and that 25% of donors in May were first-time contributors to the former president’s 2024 bid.
Trump’s cash announcement came in the wake of what his campaign showed as “Record” fundraising immediately after he was convicted of all 34 felonies in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
The former president’s campaign noted that in the first 24 hours after Thursday night’s verdict, they and the RNC raised nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted toward May’s total.
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Biden’s campaign also raised funds thanks to the Trump verdict, with a source familiar telling Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the Biden campaign’s best 24 hours of fundraising since its launch.” .
Biden’s tour in May came without any major fundraising events headlined by the president. Biden’s campaign says the majority of its May fundraising came from grassroots donors.
The campaign has been using its funds to develop what appears to be a formidable ground operation in key battleground states and announced earlier Thursday that it had hired all 1,000 of its employees. Biden’s campaign enjoys a big organizational advantage over Trump’s team when it comes to grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts.
File photos of President Biden (left) and former President Trump ((AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson and Evan Vucci))
“The money we continue to raise is important and is helping the campaign build an operation that invests in reaching and winning the voters who will decide this election,” said Chávez Rodríguez.
Biden’s campaign appears to enjoy a large advantage in cash on hand over Trump, whose campaign did not report its amount of cash on hand when announcing its fundraising in May. Campaigns are not legally required to report those numbers until the end of July, after the close of the second quarter of fundraising.
Biden enjoyed a cash-on-hand advantage of between $146 million and $88 million over Trump in late March, after the close of the year’s first fundraising quarter.
Trump has attempted to close his fundraising gap with Biden, who had regularly been outperforming Trump in monthly fundraising.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks to the podium at a campaign event on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 in Racine, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Trump’s April fundraising was boosted by a record $50.5 million that the former president’s campaign raised at a single event earlier this month with top GOP donors held at the billionaire investor’s home. John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida.
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Both candidates have held major fundraising events so far in June.
The president set a new fundraising record for the Democratic Party, according to his campaign, raising more than $30 million at a star-studded fundraiser Saturday in Los Angeles with heavyweights former President Obama Hollywood George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and late-night television. talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
President Joe Biden (L) laughs with former President Barack Obama on stage during a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Mandel NGAN/AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
And he raised $8.1 million at a fundraiser at former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s home in Northern Virginia, where he was also joined by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and former Senator Hillary Clinton, who was the standard of the Democrats in 2016. -carrier.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team touted having raised approximately $27.5 million during a fundraising campaign held by the former president in California and Nevada a week ago.
Fundraising, along with public opinion polls, is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to strengthen grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and advertising, among other things.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 election campaign, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital Election Center.
