Biden campaign raises $51M in April, has $192M on hand
President Biden’s campaign raised $51 million in April and has $192 million on hand as it enters June, the campaign announced Monday.
The $51 million haul falls short of the Trump campaign's $76 million fundraising total for the month of April. But Biden campaign officials touted their support among grassroots donors and its organizational advantages over the Trump campaign.
“April’s haul reflects strong, consistent grassroots enthusiasm for reelecting Joe and Kamala, and is giving us the resources necessary to invest in opening offices, hiring organizers and communicating across our battleground states in order to mobilize the coalition of voters who will decide this election,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
“Trump’s operation continues to burn through cash and lag behind our growing and aggressive campaign, with no ground game and no demonstrable interest in talking to the voters they need to win,” she added. “We’re taking nothing for granted, but only our campaign is doing the required work every single day to earn voters’ support this November.”
The Biden campaign highlighted that a majority of its money in April came from grassroots donors, and it added 1 million supporters to its email list during the month. It sought to contrast that with former President Trump, who has raked in cash at large fundraising events that relied more on wealthy donors.
The campaign said April was its strongest month to date for recurring donors, with that group accounting for more than $5.5 million during the month.
“Our grassroots donors understand the stakes of this election, they’re motivated to give and volunteer, and they look like America,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “It is their passion, their strength, and their belief in our country that will carry us over the finish line and lead us to victory this November.”
The April haul is down significantly from March, when the Biden campaign raised $90 million on the strength of a major New York City fundraiser with former President Obama and former President Clinton.
The Biden campaign has so far looked to press its cash advantage over the Trump campaign by running a slew of television ads targeting the former president over his views on abortion, highlighting Biden’s record and seeking to reach minority voters who will play a key role in November.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has not run many television ads, and it has few on-the-ground offices in major swing states with Election Day roughly five months away. Trump has also burned through campaign cash on legal fees as he faces four criminal cases.
Trump campaign officials have downplayed the Biden campaign’s cash advantage, asserting that the former president and his team will have the resources required to win in November.
Polls show Trump leading Biden in most of the battleground states that are likely to determine the outcome of November’s race. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls shows Trump ahead by 6 percentage points in Arizona, 6 points in Georgia, 4 points in Michigan, 7 points in Nevada, 2 points in Pennsylvania and 1 point in Wisconsin.