President Joe Biden’s campaign announced a remarkable fundraising achievement, raising $90 million in March. This substantial sum is expected to further solidify the president's significant financial advantage over former President Donald Trump.
The campaign revealed that it currently holds $192 million in cash on hand, which includes contributions from the campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and related joint fundraising committees. This total represents the largest war chest accumulated by any Democratic presidential candidate at this stage of the election cycle, as outlined in a memo released by the Biden campaign on Saturday. The campaign shared these figures ahead of the monthly Federal Election Commission filing deadline later this month.
Biden's fundraising success coincided with a major fundraising event hosted by Trump on the same day. Trump's campaign anticipated raising over $43 million during a single-night event in Palm Beach, Florida. This fundraiser aimed to surpass the "three presidents" event in New York City the previous week, where Biden, accompanied by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, appeared.
Biden's financial lead has remained a positive aspect for the president, who continues to grapple with persistently low approval ratings and trails Trump by a narrow margin in national polling averages.
By the end of February, Biden and the DNC possessed more than double the cash-on-hand compared to Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC). Trump has struggled to match his fundraising totals from 2020. The Biden campaign's manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, emphasized the significance of their fundraising efforts, stating, "The money we are raising is historic, and it’s going to the critical work of building a winning operation, focused solely on the voters who will decide this election — offices across the country, staff in our battleground states, and a paid media program meeting voters where they are." She contrasted this with Trump's financial situation, describing it as "cash-strapped" and reliant on limited funds from billionaires to cover various legal expenses.
The Biden campaign specifically highlighted its success with small-dollar donations, revealing that 96 percent of its contributions in the first three months of 2024 were under $200, and that the campaign's email list had doubled in size.