Donors to President Biden’s reelection campaign are beginning to feel the pressure after former President Trump’s recent fundraising spree helped close a seemingly insurmountable funding gap.
“The strategy was to raise money up front to get this big advantage,” a major Biden donor, who asked not to be named, told Politico. In Sunday’s report“The whole point was to come out with a significant cash advantage, and now in June it’s neck and neck. There’s no word to describe it among Biden supporters other than ‘depressing.'”
The comments came after Trump benefited from a wave of donations that saw him out-raise Biden and the Democratic National Committee for several consecutive months, effectively erasing the huge financial advantage Biden once held.
Trump is catching up with Biden in fundraising, but can he spend it in time?
President Biden and former President Trump (Getty Images)
Another major Biden donor, provided by Politico on the condition of anonymity, called the new fundraising developments “disappointing but not surprising.”
Trump’s massive fundraising came after he won the Republican nomination in early March, and he recorded an even bigger surge after he was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York in May.
Trump’s fundraising comes at the same time that Make America Great Again (MAGA), a leading super PAC supporting the former president, received a massive $50 million donation from conservative banker Timothy Mellon.
Despite Trump’s massive fundraising in recent months, the Biden campaign reported a rebound in fundraising in May, a much-needed boost after a weak showing in April. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg also donated $1 million to the campaign last week, the largest amount ever, adding to the $19 million he’d donated to a Biden super PAC.
Former President Trump speaks at a Buckeye Values PAC rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden raises huge amount of money in May, but still falls far short of Trump
The Biden campaign held major fundraisers in Los Angeles and Northern Virginia last week, raising $40 million, and tickets to another large fundraiser planned for Monday in Philadelphia are already sold out, Politico reported.
Still, the president is trailing in the money race for the first time in a general election campaign, with reports filed Thursday showing Trump and the Republican National Committee holding $116.5 million in cash compared with $91.6 million for Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
This new reality has some Democratic strategists unsettled, especially with the numbers released after the former president’s New York conviction.
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yard in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
“What Democrats should be worried about is that it’s right there, that money is flowing to Trump’s side at such a rate,” longtime Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told Politico. “You’d think that a guy who’s been convicted would be nowhere, but he’s everywhere financially, and that’s a real problem for Democrats.”
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“A challenger, especially someone with a felony conviction, can’t have a competitive edge in terms of funding,” Sheinkopf added. “How is this even possible? That’s what Democrats should be asking. … That’s what they should be worried about.”
The Biden and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
