LAHORE MIRROR (Reuters) — Donald Trump will be unable to match President Joe Biden’s fundraising totals in this year’s presidential election race, the Republican candidate’s campaign said on Thursday.
“We’re never gonna be able to raise dollar for dollar with Biden,” a Trump campaign adviser said in a call with reporters.
The adviser blamed the fundraising disparity on “billionaire” supporters of the Democratic president, and appeared keen to paint a picture of a Trump campaign fueled by grassroots, working-class supporters.
A second campaign adviser said Trump’s campaign is “fueled by hundreds of thousands of grassroots contributors across the country, and I’d much rather have that because each one of those votes.”
Asked for a response, Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said: “Trump’s campaign is strapped for cash.”
Democratic candidates have raised more money in support of their White House bids than their Republican counterparts in all election cycles after 2004. Money, however is not always an indication of success; Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 even though she raised far more cash than he did.
Biden has been routinely outraising former President Trump, whose campaign, together with a joint fundraising committee, pulled in $20.3 million in February compared with the more than $53 million raised by Biden’s reelection effort that month.
Large contributions make up about 55% of the $128.7 million that Biden’s campaign committee has raised so far in the election cycle, OpenSecrets data showed, compared with 45% from small contributions.
The former billionaire and founder of a defunct cryptocurrency exchange was found guilty by a jury last November of stealing $8 billion from customers of FTX, the exchange he founded in what prosecutors said was one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.For Trump, large contributions comprise 64% of the $96.1 million his campaign committee has raised, versus 36% from small contributions.
Bar chart showing the amount of small and large campaign contributions raised by Joe Biden and Donald Trump for 2024 presidential elections.
The two face a Nov. 5 general election rematch, in a race that opinion polls suggest will be extremely close.
Biden was holding a star-studded fundraiser in New York on Thursday night with his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton that his campaign said has already raised $25 million.
The Trump campaign is due to hold a fundraiser on April 6 hosted by billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson in south Florida that aims to bring in $33 million, according to a person familiar with the event.
