Tens of millions of dollars were donated to Donald Trump's presidential campaign immediately after he was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush-money case. Photo / AP
Tens of millions of dollars were donated to Donald Trump's presidential campaign immediately after he was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush-money case. Photo / AP
Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee together raised a robust $85m ($138m) in May and reported $212m ($346m) in the bank at the end of the month. The strong showing does not include roughly $40m ($65m) raised by Biden and his top surrogates in recent days – or a separate $20m ($32m) donation from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to pro-Biden groups.
Still, Trump’s fundraising, for one month at least, seemed to dwarf Biden’s.
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said it raised $141m ($230m) in May, including tens of millions donated immediately after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush-money case. At the same time, billionaire Timothy Mellon donated $50m ($81m) to a pro-Trump super-PAC (political action committee) the day after Trump’s guilty verdict, according to filings made public on Thursday.
Trump’s campaign declined to report how much money it had in the bank at the end of May, prompting Biden’s campaign to question whether the groups were still spending heavily to cover Trump’s legal fees.
Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee said they raised US$141m (NZ$230m) in May. Photo / AP
“Our strong and consistent fundraising programme grew by millions of people in May, a clear sign of strong and growing enthusiasm for the president and vice-president every single month,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said. “The money we continue to raise matters, and it’s helping the campaign build out an operation that invests in reaching and winning the voters who will decide this election – a stark contrast to Trump’s PR stunts and photo-ops that he’s pretending is a campaign.”
Taken together, the numbers detailed in the campaigns’ latest Federal Election Commission filings suggest that Democrats may still maintain a cash advantage in the 2024 presidential contest. But almost four months before election day, Trump’s side is closing the gap – if it isn’t closed already.
The fundraising figures also underscore the extent to which the rules of presidential politics are being rewritten in the Trump era.
At almost any other time in US history, a presidential candidate would have been forced to leave an election after being convicted of dozens of felonies. But Trump’s guilty verdict has instead fuelled a massive fundraising surge that puts his team in a position to ramp up advertising and swing-state infrastructure just as voters begin paying closer attention to the election.
Backed by Mellon’s massive donation, the pro-Trump super-PAC known as MAGA Inc. reserved $3.5m ($5.7m) in television advertising set to begin on July 3 across Georgia and Pennsylvania on Thursday, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. Overall, the group reported a $68.8m haul for May, ending the month with $93.7m ($152.9m) in the bank.
US President Joe Biden and the Democrats may still maintain a cash advantage in the presidential contest but the gap is closing. Photo / AP
Mellon has been among the biggest donors to Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., although his support for Kennedy may be fading.
Kennedy raised $2.6m ($4.2m) last month and finished May with $6.4m ($10.4m) in the bank. The vast majority of his fundraising total came from running mate Nicole Shanahan, a wealthy Silicon Valley lawyer. The Kennedy campaign spent more than it raised for the month.
The numbers reported on Thursday did not include anything raised in June, including roughly $40m ($65) raised by Biden and his top surrogates in recent days. Most of it came from a glitzy fundraiser last Saturday with movie stars and former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles that raised more than $30m. First Lady Jill Biden has been on a personal fundraising swing that has brought in $1.5m ($2.4m).
First Lady Jill Biden has been on a fundraising mission of her own. Photo / AP
Meanwhile, Biden also got a big boost from Bloomberg.
The billionaire philanthropist, who briefly ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, sent $19m to the pro-Biden group Future Forward in addition to the legal maximum of $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, according to a person familiar with the transfers.
Bloomberg also formally endorsed Biden on Thursday. “I stood with Joe Biden in 2020, and I am proud to do so again,” he said in a statement.
The Biden campaign said the vast majority of its latest fundraising came from grassroots donors such as nurses, teachers and retirees. Overall, the Biden campaign and Democratic National Committee attracted more than three million new donors last month, according to a statement from the campaign.
“While Trump is leaching off his billionaire sycophants, our campaign represents the voices of America, and we’re honoured to have their support as we race toward November,” Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison said.
