Loyal supporters of former President Donald Trump’s run for the White House have spoken with their wallets. His campaign said Tuesday it outraised President Joe Biden in the year’s second quarter with a reported haul of $331 million.
AP reports that number smashes the $264 million Biden’s reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee banked over the same period.
The fundraising gap eliminates Biden’s cash advantage and will do nothing to ease the fears of his supporters after last week’s calamitous presidential debate appearance.
The AP report set out the details:
Trump’s total includes $111.8 million that the campaign says it raised in June. That sum is less than the $127 million Biden reported raising last month, which includes more than $33 million on the day of the debate and in its aftermath.
But Trump’s campaign reports that it ended the quarter with $284.9 million cash on hand, compared with $240 million reported by Biden.
“President Trump’s campaign fundraising operation is thriving day after day and month after month,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement, the outlet notes.
They noted the incumbent’s campaign had far higher spending on advertising which achieved little net benefit as Trump consolidated his support with a tightly focussed campaign.
“This fundraising momentum is likely to grow even more as we head into a world-class convention and see the Democrats continue their circular firing squad in the aftermath of Biden’s debate collapse,” they added.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez applauded his totals as “a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters standing firmly behind the president.”
She spoke as Democrat donor Whitney Tilson criticized Biden for “deceiving” voters about his mental fitness in the aftermath of his performance at Thursday’s presidential debate, as Breitbart News reported.
Tilson, a Wall Street investor who previously donated to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election, explained to the New York Post that he felt that he had “been deceived” about Biden’s health, and suggested a replacement candidate.
