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Joe Biden and Donald Trump raised far more money for their election campaigns in the third quarter than their presidential rivals, but much less than former presidents at the same phase of previous races, according to federal filings.
Both Biden and Trump raised about $25mn between July and September, putting them well ahead of Florida governor Ron DeSantis and others. But both Barack Obama and Trump himself raised far more during the same months in the year before the 2012 and 2020 elections.
The latest financial figures suggest the 2024 contest is increasingly a two-horse race between two unpopular candidates, a perception that both campaigns reject.
“I think President Biden’s number should put a rest to rumours that he doesn’t have overwhelming support among Democrats,” said Erik Smith, a veteran Democratic strategist and senior adviser to the Obama presidential campaigns.
“Pundits speculate that the party may be lukewarm on the incumbent’s chances in 2024, but these numbers prove strong support for the president.”
When taking into account the constellation of groups helping their campaigns, Biden raised more than $71mn in the third quarter, while Trump raised over $45mn, according to their campaigns.
The Biden team also claimed that its groups combined held nearly $91mn in cash on hand, more than any other previous Democratic presidential candidate at this point in the election cycle.
While Biden cruises towards the Democratic nomination, Trump remains about 30 points ahead in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, states that will vote early in the Republican primary race.
His campaign has also rejected any notion that the candidate has struggled for enthusiasm, saying it is powered by a “grassroots movement that is unmatched”.
Trump’s fundraising machine has far outpaced his GOP opponents’, despite the former president still facing an array of legal challenges, including a federal indictment for his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election he lost to Biden. On Monday, a judge imposed a gag order on Trump to stop him targeting people involved in the federal elections case against him.
DeSantis’s campaign spent almost all of the $11.2mn he raised in the third quarter, the filings show. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy raised $7.4mn but spent $12.2mn. Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who benefited from two strong debate performances, was more frugal, raising $8.2mn and spent $3.5mn.
South Carolina senator Tim Scott also outspent his incoming funds, raising $4.6mm but spending $12.4mn. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Trump’s former vice-president Mike Pence raised even less.
Despite some success in raising cash for their election war chests, support nationally for Biden and Trump remains lacklustre. Biden’s approval rating is below 40%, while Trump’s favourability rating is slightly above.
One of Biden’s most successful fundraising ploys was a contest called “Meet the Presidents”, which promised the winner the chance to meet both Biden and Obama, whose approval ratings while in office were never as low as the current president’s.
In the third quarter of 2011, Obama raised more than$42mn. Trump raised a similar amount in the same quarter of 2019. Even Hillary Clinton, who did not have what analysts consider the benefit of serving as an incumbent president, raised almost $30mn in 2016, more than Trump or Biden this time round.
The latest filings also showed how Trump’s legal and political woes are completely intertwined, with mixed results.
Some of the mega donors to the Republican party have stayed on the sidelines for the 2024 campaign, after a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on January 6 2021 in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. Trump faces four criminal cases. Two of them — one federal case and another in Georgia — allege he conspired to subvert the 2020 election.
But Trump’s legal issues have also been a boon to his small-dollar fundraising. Trump’s best stretch of the campaign was after he released a mugshot of himself after surrendering to authorities in Georgia on August 24.
He raised at least $2.1mn in 48 hours, making up 9 per cent of his fundraising haul for the quarter. In the prior week, Trump raised $1.3mn.
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