The reelection campaign for President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee said they raised a huge $264 million in the second quarter of the year. This may help them calm people down in their own party who were worried about how poorly they did in last week’s debate.
The total that was announced on Tuesday includes $127 million that was raised just in June. The campaign says it raised more than $33 million on the day of the debate and in the days after it. Biden also has $240 million in cash on hand, which is more than the $212 million it said it had last month.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, said that the numbers “show how committed and growing the base of supporters is who are standing firmly behind the president.”
The results come as Biden’s campaign continues to try to calm down Democrats who are worried that the president won’t be able to win the election in November after a debate in which he seemed irritable, rambled, and sometimes gave confusing answers. Since the debate, some of the campaign’s top leaders have called donors and top supporters more than once to tell them to be patient.
Still, campaign officials say there has been “no discussion whatsoever” of Biden dropping out of the race or any changes to the staff.
Former President Donald Trump will accept the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention this month in Milwaukee. He has not yet released the quarterly fundraising numbers for his campaign and other groups that are connected to it. A spokesman said, “When we’re ready,” they would let them go.
In the early stages of the race, Biden raised a lot more money than Trump. But recently, the former president has closed the gap.
Biden and the DNC said they raised more than $51 million in April, which is part of Tuesday’s full second quarter numbers. What they said they made that month was $76 million, which was a lot more than what they said they made.
Trump also said that he raised $141 million in May. This number was inflated by tens of millions of dollars in donations that came in after he was found guilty of criminal hush money.
In June, Biden held a fancy fundraiser in Los Angeles with actors George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and former President Barack Obama. This event added to Biden’s most recent quarterly total. More than $30 million was raised at that event, which is a record for a Democratic candidate.
The president’s campaign said that almost half of the donations that came in after the debate were from people who had never given before. It said that over 2.8 million donations were made by more than 1.5 million people in the second quarter, with 95% of those donations being less than $200.
The group said it now has 314,000 donors, which is almost 100,000 more than at the end of the first quarter of 2024 in March.
With its own money, the Biden campaign has helped open more than 200 campaign offices in key states. These offices work with the state Democratic parties and have more than 1,000 employees. Biden’s campaign said that after last weekend’s debate, 1,500 events were held all over the battlegrounds.
“Every day, people from all over the country are giving money because they know this election will change the course of history,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said.
