Biden's campaign announces a $264 million fundraising haul in 2nd quarter during post-debate anxiety
President Joe Biden speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House Monday, July 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden 's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported raising $264 million in the year's second quarter, an impressive haul that may help them calm fears within their own party about last week's shaky debate performance.
The total announced Tuesday includes $127 million collected during June alone, when the campaign says it took in more than $33 million on the day of the debate and in its aftermath. Biden also has $240 million in cash on hand, outpacing the $212 million it reported having last month.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez called the totals “a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters standing firmly behind the president.”
The announced totals come as Biden's campaign continues to scramble to quell panic among some Democrats, who have questioned whether the president can win November's election after a debate where he appeared raspy, trailed off and at times gave convoluted answers. Some of the campaign's top leaders have held multiple calls since the debate, preaching patience to donors and top surrogates.
Campaign officials nonetheless insist there's been no discussion “whatsoever” of Biden exiting the race nor of any staff shakeups.
Former President Donald Trump, who is set to accept the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention this month in Milwaukee, has yet to announce the quarterly fundraising totals for his campaign and affiliated entities. A spokesman said they would release them “when we're ready.”
Biden enjoyed a large fundraising advantage over Trump in the early stages of the race, but the former president has narrowed the gap more recently.
In April, which is included in Tuesday's full second quarter totals, Biden and the DNC reported raising more than $51 million. That was well short of the $76 million that Trump and the Republican Party reported taking in for that month.
Trump also reported raising $141 million in May, padded by tens of millions of dollars in contributions that flowed in after Trump’s guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.
Biden's most recent quarterly total was enhanced by a glitzy June fundraiser in Los Angeles that he held with superstars George Clooney and Julia Roberts and former President Barack Obama. That event took in more than $30 million, a record for a Democratic candidate.
The president's campaign said nearly half of the donations that came after the debate were from first-time donors. It said 95% of all second-quarter donations were under $200, and more than 1.5 million total donors made over 2.8 million contributions.
The campaign said it now has a donor base of 314,000, or nearly 100,000 more than at the end of 2024's first quarter in March.
The Biden campaign has used its funds to help open 200-plus campaign offices in battleground states that work with state Democratic parties and have more than 1,000 staffers. Biden's team said that coming out of the debate last weekend, the campaign staged 1,500 events across the battlegrounds.
“Grassroots donors across the country are chipping in every day because they know that this election will determine the course of history,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said.