Biden’s campaign raised $127 million in June, a strong performance after some signs that his fundraising was slowing — and a bright spot for the campaign after days of trying to fend off concerns about the president’s age and viability Joe Biden after his debate performance CNN.
June marked “the best month of the campaign cycle,” according to a press release, which noted that the campaign now has “$240 million in cash on hand – up from $212 million last month.”
In the days following the debate and amid intense criticism over Biden’s faltering performance — along with questions about his continued political viability — Biden’s campaign repeatedly pointed to strong fundraising numbers as a sign of his strength. popular. The argument aims to reject those who suggest that the president could lose support as a consequence of his performance.
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told members of the campaign’s National Finance Committee on Monday that the team has “clear eyes, it’s not Pollyanna,” two participants on the call said. to CNNbut they offered no indication that Biden was reconsidering running for a second term.
A virtual meeting with about 500 donors, photos of which are spread across 21 pages of Zoom screens, was called in hopes of easing tensions and answering questions top Democrats have been raising in response to Biden’s dark debate night. O’Malley Dillon suggested Biden’s health was good, the two sources said. She pointed to the president’s health report released by his doctors earlier this year, with his doctor declaring him fit to serve.
“He’s probably in better health than most of us,” O’Malley Dillon said, according to attendees, one of whom said the comment was offensive and dismissive of real concerns about Biden in the wake of their debate.
A member of the National Finance Committee who participated in the call said it was disappointing that Biden’s top official sought to downplay concerns rather than listen to them.
The campaign raised more than US$33 million between Thursday (28) and Sunday (30) morning, according to a campaign manager. And Thursday, the official said, was the campaign’s best fundraising day to date.
Biden’s team built a sizable fund, which it used to organize the campaign in swing states, along with significant spending on advertising. There are more than 200 coordinated campaign offices with more than 1,000 employees in swing states, the campaign said.
Nearly two-thirds of the $127 million raised in June, the campaign said, came from grassroots donations, with 95% of the campaign’s donations this quarter below $200. Part of the total was financed by a fundraiser in Los Angeles with the appearance of former President Barack Obama, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, which brought in more than $30 million, and Bill and Hillary Clinton’s fundraiser in Virginia, which raised more than $8 million.
Still, the debate has stirred anxiety among new Democratic donors, who have largely split into three groups. Some argued against a campaign to pressure the president to quit, another group said party leaders should consider drastic measures only after the fallout from Thursday night was more closely examined, while a third group proactively called on Democrats to begin the search process for a new candidate.
Biden’s campaign and his surrogates sought to mitigate the fallout from his debate performance by asking voters to consider the 90 minutes they saw him in the context of his three and a half years in office. Realizing the political fragility of the moment, both Biden and his campaign admitted that he had a bad night.
Chris Korge, finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, used Monday’s Zoom call to urge donors to work harder and unite behind Biden.
“Everyone just needs to breathe through their nose for a minute,” Korge told donors, two call participants said, imploring donors not to panic about the trajectory of Biden’s race with former President Donald Trump.
Quentin Fulks, deputy campaign manager, told donors that negative media coverage of Biden was to blame for any drop in polls, not the president’s debate performance. He said editorials and columnists calling for Biden to drop out of the race were “overreacting.”
But some senior Democratic officials and supporters close to the White House balked at the tone and language that campaign officials adopted as part of their defense.
A senior Democratic official told CNN that the tone was “disrespectful.” Another top Democrat in close contact with the White House said it was “disgusting.”
Several people told CNN that the tone is one of contempt and complete devaluation of the very serious and widespread concerns within the Democratic Party about whether Biden is fit to seek and serve a second term.
In a fundraising email sent over the weekend under the name of deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, the campaign acknowledged the widespread panic that Biden’s debate performance caused.
“If you are like me, you will receive a lot of texts or calls from people about the state of the race after Thursday. Maybe it was your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle (acronym for Make America Great Again, Trump’s slogan) or some smug podcasters,” the email began.
The message later read: “The bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to ‘give up.’ This is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose.”
While the promising fundraising numbers come after one of the lowest points politically for Biden, they also come after a personal low point for his opponent, who was convicted in late May on 34 criminal charges. Biden’s campaign suggested that donors were energized by Trump’s conviction.
“Our fundraising in the second quarter is a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters who firmly support the President and Vice President and clear evidence that our voters understand the choice in this election between President Biden fighting for the American people and Donald Trump fighting for himself like a convicted felon,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
Biden attended high-dollar fundraisers in New York City and East Hampton, New York, as well as Red Bank, New Jersey, over the weekend.
The June performance comes after two consecutive months in which Trump’s political operation outperformed Biden’s campaign, due in part to a flood of donations following Trump’s criminal conviction.
Share:
