Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Biden Outraises Trump for Second Month in a Row

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Democrats outraised President Donald Trump and Republicans for the second straight month in a row, garnering $141 million in June and $282.1 million in the second quarter, compared to $131 million in June and $266 for the quarter for the GOP.

(CN) — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Democrats outraised President Donald Trump and Republicans for the second straight month in a row, garnering $141 million in June and $282.1 million in the second quarter, compared to $131 million in June and $266 for the quarter for the GOP.

The Trump campaign announced their numbers earlier on Wednesday, with campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeting of "record" fundraising highs. That message would be dwarfed later in the evening as the Biden campaign announced their own numbers, outraising the president by $10 million in June and $16 million overall in the second quarter.

As the country grapples with a deadly pandemic that continues to trend in a dangerous direction and police brutality protests still rage across numerous city streets, new data released today by the Trump campaign suggests that Americans are still using their time — and cash — to donate to the political campaign of their choosing.

The numbers are significant as the president held two fundraisers in June while Biden didn't hold any. Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign manager, said Wednesday that 68% of the campaigns donors were new, noting that 2.6 million people were added to their campaign donor list.

"There's real, grassroots energy for Joe," she tweeted Wednesday night.

The Trump campaign released a fundraising update that announced that Donald J. Trump for President Inc., the Republican National Committee and a series of joint fundraising committees have together raised over $266 million in the second quarter of 2020, an amount that stands as a second quarter record, according to the campaign.

Almost half of this nearly-quarter-billion-dollar haul came from just a single month. The campaign said that in June alone, a month that saw Trump struggling in the polls against presumptive Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden in several key battleground states, Trump’s campaign raised around $131 million — a figure the campaign says far outperforms any single fundraising month witnessed during Trump’s 2016 run.

This fundraising feat represents an over 70% increase for the president’s reelection bid compared to 2020’s first quarter.

The $266 million averaged out to around $4.3 million in donations per day, with one notable spike. On June 14th — Trump’s birthday — the campaign raised an online figure of $14 million, which the campaign also says stands as a new record.

With Trump holding just two fundraising events in the second quarter of this year, the campaign said that much of this success is attributed to their large donor base spread throughout digital, mail and online platforms.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the National Chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, said these numbers show that voter support for the president is high and that the campaign’s approach to fundraising has proved to be a success.

“The enthusiasm for President Trump's re-election continues to be reflected by the campaign's historic fundraising hauls,” Guilfoyle said in a statement. “Over the past three months, Trump Victory Finance Committee, in concert with the Republican National Committee, spearheaded an innovative approach to digital fundraising that allowed the campaign to continue engaging donors and bundlers in a way never before seen in politics.”

With these new numbers, Trump’s reelection campaign has amassed over $947 million in the past two years and currently sits atop $295M war chest for the upcoming election.

Trump’s 2020 rival, however, is also engaged in fundraising efforts of his own. The campaign announced earlier this month that the campaign raised $80.8 million in May, with the campaign saying that at least half of the donors that contributed to that sum were new donors.

The campaign also says that educators continue to make of the largest occupational group for Biden’s donor base and that the campaign has tripled its online donor base compared to February when Biden was still locked in a contested Democratic primary.

Biden said that he values the resources people are willing to put into his campaign — particularly given that just a few months ago many believed Biden’s campaign was floundering during the primary stage — and says that each dollar earned will go towards defeating Trump come November.

“I’m humbled and honored that you have put your trust in me as your presumptive Democratic nominee. And I’m incredibly honored by the support I’ve received from you all,” Biden said. “Just a few months ago, people were ready to write this campaign off. Now, we are making huge dents in Donald Trump’s warchest. Every single dollar is going to make sure he is only a one-term president.”

While these financial numbers can certainly help provide a snapshot into the health and voter enthusiasm of a political campaign, recent election history serves as a reminder that better fundraising does not always ensure ballot victory. Hillary Clinton reportedly earned more than double what Trump’s 2016 campaign managed to raise — and ultimately fell short in November.

Follow @@CarsonAndLloyd
Categories / National, Politics

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...