Biden campaign out-raises Trump and rest of GOP field as 2024 election nears

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President Biden raised $71.3m alongside the Democratic National Committee and his joint fund-raising committee during the last quarter, topping Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican 2024 field, according to federal election data.

The haul is less than the $125m then-president Donald Trump raised during the same period four years ago, and just greater than the equivalent $70.1m Barack Obama raised four years before that.

“It was a spectacular quarter,” Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who co-chairs the Biden campaign, told The New York Times. “It certainly exceeded our own expectations around it significantly. The fact that we’re sitting with $91 million in the bank today is really an extraordinary advantage.”

The campaign touted that 97 per cent of its donations came from contributors giving under $200, and pointed to efforts like a $2m haul on selling “Dark Brandon” mugs as successful tactics.

Because of the Biden campaign’s funding partnerships with the DNC and the joint-fundraising committee, he can receive individual contributions of up to $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, which is then divided between various entities.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, which is not currently fundraising jointly with the national GOP, raised $45.5m, it reported.

That’s more than double any of his rivals, reinforcing the dominant lead Mr Trump has maintained over the rest of the Republican contenders in the polls, despite the former president facing numerous criminal charges.

Other top Republican contenders brought in considerably less, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis netting $15m and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley bringing in $11m.

The Trump campaign has more cash on hand than the Biden operation, Politico notes, with Mr Trump holding $37.5m and Biden retaining $32.1m.

If it’s anything like the 2020 election, 2024 could be a big-money election.

During the previous election, Mr Biden set a record by becoming the first candidate for federal office to raise more than $1bn.

Despite his dominant fundraising, Mr Biden’s campaign may alarmed by the polls showing him in a dead heat with Donald Trump.

Various recent polls show either candidate coming out on top, usually by one or two per cent.