President Trump’s re-election efforts slightly outraised the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden for the month of April by about $1 million, according to both campaign fundraising reporting statements released Monday.
The Trump campaign combined with the Republican National Committee (RNC) raked in $61.7 million in the month of April, while Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced they raised a combined $60.5 million. According to the statement breaking down how much each committee had raised, the Biden campaign raised $43.5 million with the DNC raising $17 million.
The April report marks the first full month of fundraising numbers both campaigns have raised since the coronavirus pandemic. Since the outbreak caused the majority of states to enact stay-at-home orders, traditional fundraisers events were put to a halt. This has forced campaigns to replace in-person top-dollar fundraisers with virtual events conducted all online.
Biden’s campaign has largely conducted its fundraising through virtual meetings over the video conferencing app Zoom. The DNC held 11 fundraisers over Zoom in April and said that they are planning future Zoom fundraising events for the month of May with top Democratic figures to headline such as Hillary Clinton, Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
The Trump campaign stated since the transition to virtual fundraising, Trump Victory, the joint effort between the RNC and the campaign, “has added over 300,000 new volunteers and made over 20 million voter contacts” as well as double their legal budget to “$20 million to combat the Democrats’ assault on the integrity of our elections.”
April is the first month the Biden campaign and the DNC reported their totals together. The joint fundraising agreement that was announced late April allows major donors to give $360,000 to Biden Victory Fund. However, the joint efforts raised in April falls short of $20 million the Biden campaign and the DNC raised solely for the month of March. Last month, the Biden campaign raised $46.7 million, while the DNC brought in $32.7 million, bringing the combined total of $79.4 million.
The former Vice President slightly blamed the low fundraising haul on the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am especially humbled because I know what a sacrifice it is to give in economic times as difficult as the one we’re in,” Biden said in a statement to supporters. “When staring down the face of economic uncertainty, you chose to put your money behind me. For that, I will always be eternally thankful. What we raise in May will be really important in determining what we can accomplish in the fall.”
The Biden campaign did not reveal in the statement the total haul they have to raise to date, how much cash on hand nor how much of the $60.5 million raised came from the online donation. According to the last financial campaign report, Biden ended March with $26.4 million remaining in his campaign account. The official figures will be released in federal filings on May 20.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign and the RNC announced the joint entities put them in a “strong financial position” with $255 million in the bank.
“While day-to-day life may have slowed this past month, enthusiasm and support for this President has not,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “With their time, resources, and ultimately their vote, Americans across this country continue to put their faith in President Trump.”
The Trump campaign and RNC, on the other hand, combined have raised more than $742 million in this cycle. According to the statement, they have raised $288 million more than “the Obama re-election effort had raised at this same point.”
“Once again the Trump campaign’s colossal fundraising haul reaffirms that President Trump will lead an unstoppable juggernaut this November,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. “While the do-nothing Democrats have recklessly held up funds for our nation’s small businesses and played political games with the lives of the American people, President Trump’s consistent record of unprecedented action is met with overwhelming enthusiasm and support.”
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