Topline
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign announced Friday it raised $72 million in the second quarter even though Biden only formally announced his 2024 campaign in April, surpassing opponents who launched presidential bids months earlier.
Key Facts
The campaign had 400,000 donors who gave an average of $39 a person, and 97% of all donations were less than $200, according to CNN.
Although Biden started his campaign later than former President Donald Trump, who announced in November, Biden has already far surpassed Trump in fundraising, after Trump’s campaign hauled in a total of $49.5 million in the first and second fundraising quarters combined.
Compared to other 2024 candidates, it appears that Biden is in the lead for fundraising—however, at the same point in Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020, he had surpassed $105 million in fundraising.
During former President Barack Obama’s first quarter of his reelection campaign in 2011, he raised a record-breaking $86 million.
Key Background
Running against Biden in the democratic primaries are Marianne Williamson, who is running again after her unsuccessful 2020 campaign, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist. Polling suggests that Biden is ahead at 65%, Kennedy at 14% and Williamson at 4%. The Republican candidates include Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence, to name a few. In the 2024 Republican primaries, polling indicates Trump is ahead at 49.7%, with Ron DeSantis at 21%.
What To Watch For
Many candidates, including Trump, along with fellow Republicans Haley and Ramaswamy, announced their campaigns months before Biden, so they were able to start fundraising earlier. As this is Biden’s first quarter in the presidential race, his second quarter funding will give more insight into how he stacks up when compared to other candidates who are already in their second quarters of fundraising.
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