President Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign has raised over $72 million in the recent quarter, which is greater than his rivals but falls short compared to previous presidential campaigns.
“I’m proud to say that Team Biden-Harris has raised more than $72 million since April. To all the grassroots donors who pitched in a few bucks at a time—thank you. This campaign is powered by you. And with your help, we’re going to finish the job,” Mr. Biden said in a July 15 post on Twitter. The amount was raised between April 25, when Biden announced his 2024 candidacy and the end of June. It includes donations to Biden’s campaign as well as funds raised via national and state parties.
Though these are strong numbers, the fundraising is lower compared to previous American presidents at this time in the election cycle during their reelection. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) raised $105 million in the second quarter, according to the Associated Press.
Before that, former president Barack Obama raised $85.6 million, not accounting for inflation, in the second quarter of 2011 when he launched his second presidential bid.
Some argue that Mr. Biden’s campaign donations are only lower than that of Mr. Obama’s 2011 fundraising due to the fact that Mr. Obama began his race in early April at the time while Mr. Biden only kicked off his current campaign in late April.
The Biden campaign had $77 million on hand at the end of the Q2 reporting period, which was the highest total ever by a Democrat at that point.
Biden Ahead in Fundraising
As far as the 2024 presidential race is concerned, Biden has raised more money in donations in the second quarter compared to his Democrat rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his chief GOP rival Donald Trump.
On July 5, the Trump campaign announced that the former president raised over $35 million in Q2, which is less than half of what Mr. Biden raised. However, Mr. Trump’s second-quarter fundraising received almost twice the money compared to his first quarter.
Mr. Trump’s GOP rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, raised $20 million in Q2. Other Republican candidates have reported lower amounts, with Vivek Ramaswamy raising $7.7 million, Nikki Haley at $5.3 million, and Mike Pence receiving $1.2 million.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden is far ahead in terms of donations when compared to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who raised $6.36 million between February and June, according to a disclosure filing.
Mr. Biden also beats Mr. Kennedy Jr. in terms of poll support. According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll (pdf) from mid-June, Biden garnered the support of 62 percent of Democrat voters in the primaries, with Kennedy Jr. getting 15 percent support.
Biden, who has cleared the field of any serious rivals for the Democratic nomination, has nevertheless been confronting persistent concerns from within the party about voter enthusiasm for an 80-year-old candidate. The fundraising number is likely to quiet but not eliminate some concerns about whether Biden can assemble the support necessary for a successful campaign.
His 2020 effort topped $1 billion in donations.
Surveys show Democrats would prefer another candidate to run, but there is no consensus within the party about an alternative.
“This is fantastic,” said Democratic donor Robert Wolf. “The calls I was getting before they announced were: ‘Is he going to beat Trump? Is he going to beat (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis?’ And he blew them out of the water.”
Public Support for Candidates, Presidential Party Debates
In a July 14 Twitter video post, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, manager for the Biden-Harris campaign, said that since April, over 394,000 individual donors have made more than 670,000 contributions to the campaign, with 97 percent of the donations being under $200, and the average grassroots donation being $39.
“While Republicans are burning through resources in a divisive primary focused on who can take the most extreme MAGA positions, we are significantly outraising every single one of them,” she said.
Despite Biden raising double the money in donations than Trump in the second quarter, there isn’t a big difference between the two in terms of public backing.
According to a July 11 update from Morning Consult, Mr. Biden only had a narrow one-point lead over Mr. Trump in a hypothetical match-up among the general electorate.
Late last month, Mr. Trump carried a three-point lead over Mr. Biden, the first time that the GOP candidate bested the current president in the Morning Consult poll.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee’s first sanctioned 2024 presidential debate is set to be held on Aug. 23. Mr. Trump, Mr. DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley are expected to meet the qualifying criteria and take part in the debate.
However, the Democratic National Committee has announced that it will not be sponsoring any party debates for the 2024 race. Biden has expressed no interest in participating as well.
The decision has attracted criticism. “The DNC refusing to hold a single primary debate is undemocratic and robs the voters of choice,” Nina Turner, a co-Chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, said in an April 24 post on Twitter.
“No one who feels confident in their record and/or ideas would hesitate to stand on them. The DNC should hold debates. This is supposed to be a democratic process.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
