Dash for campaign cash: Biden and DNC rake in more than $80 million in May

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Fueled by his rise in the polls and his presidential campaign’s enhanced online fundraising machine, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden says his campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and their joint fundraising committee hauled in a combined $80.8 million in May.

The former vice president’s campaign, in unveiling its fundraising figures on Monday, touted that half its donors last month were new, with 1.5 million new contributors “in the past few weeks.” Biden aides also spotlighted that they’ve tripled the number of online donors since February.

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“I’m humbled and honored that you have put your trust in me as your presumptive Democratic nominee. And I’m incredibly honored by the support I’ve received from you all,” Biden said as he announced the May fundraising figures in an email to supporters. “Just a few months ago, people were ready to write this campaign off. Now, we are making huge dents in Donald Trump’s war chest. Every single dollar is going to make sure he is only a one-term president.”

The haul by the Biden campaign and the DNC is an increase of more than $20 million from the combined $60.5 million they separately raised in April. The Biden campaign and the DNC forged a deal in late in April to set up the joint Biden Victory Fund.

President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee brought in a combined $61.7 million in April. The Trump campaign and the RNC have yet to report on their combined May haul. But the Trump campaign told Fox News early Monday that they raised $14 million online on Sunday, which was the president’s 74th birthday. The $14 million was the campaign’s largest one-day online fundraising haul.

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Trump and the RNC – which have been building a fundraising juggernaut for more than three years – had roughly $255 million cash on hand at the start of May, compared with the approximately $100 million the Biden campaign and DNC have in their coffers. Biden didn’t launch his presidential campaign until April of last year and faced a competitive primary battle. He became the Democrat’s presumptive presidential nominee in April after his last remaining rival – Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont – dropped out of the race and backed the former vice president.

Biden struggled with fundraising for much of his campaign, until March, when he became the front-runner for the nomination thanks to a string of primary victories. In April, Sanders and other former primary rivals began helping the former vice president raise campaign cash.

Biden hasn’t spent much of his campaign cash since mid-March – as he stayed at his home in Delaware until recently as the coronavirus pandemic brought much of the nation to a halt. Biden has also been frugal when it comes to ads. While the campaign has stepped up its digital buys, it’s refrained from going up with more expensive TV ads the past three months.