Trump had finally closed the fundraising gap in the election—then came a $100 million blue tsunami
Last month, Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee seemed to have gained a firm financial advantage over Democrats after trailing earlier this year. Following Trump’s felony conviction on May 30 and President Joe Biden’s rocky debate performance on June 27, money came pouring into his and the R.N.C.’s war chests while Democrats burned through cash. As of the end of June, the Trump campaign had nearly $45 million more cash on hand than the Biden campaign did, according to filings with the Federal Election Committee.
But following Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he was backing out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, a historic wave of fundraising may have tipped the scales back in Democrats’ favor.
As of Monday afternoon, the Democratic fundraising website ActBlue reported it processed more than $100 million in donations online since the president made his announcement, according to the site. Harris’ campaign alone announced that less than 24 hours after launching, it had raised nearly $50 million for the new candidate. On Sunday night, ActBlue posted on social media that it was the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle.
UPDATE: As of 9pm ET, grassroots supporters have raised $46.7 million through ActBlue following Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch. This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election 🔥
— ActBlue (@actblue) July 22, 2024
To be sure, the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump also likely sparked a surge in fundraising for the Republicans, although numbers for July won’t be available until next month.
The flood of donations following Biden’s endorsement of Harris throws another wrench in the fundraising landscape of the 2024 election just as Trump was beginning to gain momentum. The Trump campaign announced it raised over $52 million in the wake of his guilty verdict in the hush-money trial, breaking a Republican record for single-day fundraising. In the second quarter of 2024, Trump and the R.N.C. outraised Biden and the Democrats $331 million to $264 million.
Although Democrats outraised Trump and the R.N.C. in June, they also spent heavily on advertising in a month that unraveled their presumed nominee. The Biden campaign burned through 93% of the cash it raised in June, compared to just 46% for the Trump campaign. As of the most recent FEC filing, the Trump campaign had $128 million in available cash, while Biden had just under $96 million.
It isn’t just the former president’s campaign that’s seen a donation dump in recent weeks. The R.N.C has gotten a major boost since Trump became the party’s presumed nominee leading up to last week’s convention. Between the end of May and the end of June, the committee nearly doubled its cash on hand to $102 million.
All told, between the Trump campaign, its fundraising affiliates, and the R.N.C., Republicans had $281 million available at the end of June, while Biden and the Democrats had about $237 million.
The big question now will be whether Harris—or some other candidate the Democrats tap to be the nominee at next month’s convention—will have access to the $96 million available for Biden.
If Harris is the nominee, the answer appears to be a fairly straightforward “yes.” Because she was the president’s running mate, Harris and Biden already share a campaign committee, meaning she has access to the existing funds if she’s on the November ticket as either candidate for president or vice president, according to a note from former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter.
“It’s very clear,” Dara Lindenbaum, a current FEC commissioner, told the New York Times. “If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.”
If Harris isn’t the nominee, the fate of Biden’s war chest is less clear. The FEC limits candidate-to-candidate contributions to $2,000 per election, Potter explained in the note. The Biden—or rather, Harris—campaign could issue a refund to donors, or potentially transfer the funds to the Democratic party.
Trump, for his part, suggested on Truth Social following Biden’s announcement that Republicans should get reimbursed for the money they’ve already spent campaigning against Biden as the presumed nominee.
“We are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race,” Trump said. “Now we have to start all over again.”
