Former Vice President Joe Biden edged out President Donald Trump in fundraising yet again in the month of June, but both candidates reported record fundraising hauls as the 2020 presidential election begins to heat up.
“Biden and the Democratic National Committee’s fundraising arm jointly raised more than $141 million in June, his campaign said Wednesday, its most in a single month,” USA Today reported Thursday. “The money includes boosts from President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), each of whom hosted virtual fundraisers for Biden in June.”
Warren actually broke a campaign promise not to engage in high-dollar fundraisers to rake in cash for Biden in June, appearing as part of a high-profile online event that drew a number of big-money Democratic donors. Obama, just like Hillary Clinton before him, headlined another high-dollar event, drawing in donors who, because of a necessary agreement with the Democratic National Committee, were able to give upwards of a quarter-million dollars each to the Biden campaign.
The Obama fundraiser alone raised a reported $11 million, and Obama’s continued involvement in Biden’s campaign has become a key element in pushing Biden ahead of Trump both nationally and in certain key battleground states, particularly given that Biden goes for long periods of time with no public appearances — sometimes as long as two months.
But the Trump campaign wasn’t far behind Biden; after restarting their fundraising efforts in earnest following coronavirus-related lockdowns, the Trump-Republican National Committee alliance, which benefits from the same sort of agreement Biden has with the DNC, drew in a whopping $131 million in June, just $10 million behind Biden.
The Trump campaign says that their biggest one-day total came on the president’s birthday; they raised $14 million with a coordinated push to honor Trump’s 74th.
Biden is making up for time lost while he was competing for the 2020 Democratic nomination, a title he didn’t officially earn until early June, despite having no competitors. Because of the time spent proving himself against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Biden lags far behind in cash on hand. His war chest has just over $80 million, even though he and the DNC pulled in more than $280 million from February through June.
President Donald Trump, to the contrary, has $295 million cash on hand after raising around $266 million in the second quarter.
There are concerns beyond fundraising for Trump; after a disastrous return to the campaign trail — a poorly attended event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was touted as a blockbuster — the president has been lagging so far behind in the polls that he is reportedly considering a major campaign shakeup.
So far, though, few changes have happened, and with Biden announcing Wednesday that he is not ready to return to the campaign trail and will be avoiding public events — at least for the time being — a major change may not be necessary to move both poll and fundraising numbers.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.