President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign's fundraising in April lagged rival Donald Trump's for the first time, after the former president ramped up his joint operation with the Republican National Committee and headlined high-dollar fundraisers.
The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $51 million in April, lower than the total of $90 million it raised in March, according to filings, and less than $76 million Donald Trump and the Republican Party reported taking in for the month.
Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination in March, and can now raise money with the RNC, which his daughter-in-law co-chairs.
His April haul was boosted by a record-setting $50.5 million raised during an event with donors early in the month at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor John Paulson. Paulson has been floated by Trump as a potential Treasury secretary.
The event turned out to be a much-needed boost for Trump, who has been routinely outraised by Biden and is in the midst of a financial squeeze due to ballooning lawyer fees and legal payouts from his criminal and civil court cases.
The Trump campaign said in a statement its April fundraising is "especially remarkable when you consider he has been confined to a courtroom for nearly 9 hours a day over the past four weeks fighting against Biden's Trial."
Biden and Trump are tied in national polls, and Trump has the edge in the battleground states that will decide the election, multiple recent polls show. On economic issues like inflation, Trump scores higher with voters overall than Biden.
Biden war chest still a record
The Biden campaign said its total war chest of $192 million at the end of April was a record for any Democratic candidate at this point in the election cycle, less than six months before the Nov. 5 election.
A large war chest has allowed it to undertake major advertising campaigns in key battleground states, and to work with the DNC and state parties to mobilize supporters before November's election — far outpacing Trump's on-the-ground efforts, said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager.
Biden's April fundraising, a majority of which came from grassroots donors, lagged the amount his campaign raised in March.
The State of the Union address, a fundraising blitz through eight battleground states and an event with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at New York's Radio City Music Hall, where it raised $26 million, boosted the amount Biden raised in March.
In June, the Biden campaign is planning another major fundraiser featuring Hollywood stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Los Angeles.
Trump's campaign said in March that it would be unable to match Biden's fundraising totals this year.
