Biden Raises A Record $97 Million In The Fourth Quarter

It has been a historic financial quarter for the reelection campaign of President Joe Biden and the Democratic party.

The campaign announced Monday that it has $117 million on hand after a record-breaking final quarter of fundraising, which totaled just over $97 million in donations.

This sum trounces other recent Democratic presidential candidates. Former President Barack Obama’s final quarter of fundraising for his reelection campaign in 2011 totaled around $67 million. Hillary Clinton‘s total fundraising for the final quarter of 2015 was $37 million.

The campaign’s announcement came just before the start of the Iowa caucuses and two weeks before the filing deadline of January 31. The campaign has issued statements declaring that the results show the growing support for Biden’s reelection.

The party said their fourth quarter had 520,000 contributors and that 97% of donations were under $200.

Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Biden-Harris campaign manager, said that the make-up of donors points to a strong grassroots movement.

“These numbers prove that the American people know the stakes and are taking action early to help defeat the extreme MAGA Republican agenda again,” she wrote in a statement.

The impressive Biden-Harris war chest is in no small part due to the campaign’s recent frugality. They haven’t seen much reason for exorbitant reelection campaigning, which some presidents, including Donald Trump, start the morning after their first victory.

Instead, they have saved cash while their Republican rivals burn through theirs in bitter primaries. Despite Biden’s recent record low approval rating of just 33%, the lowest for a president since George W. Bush from 2006-2008, his campaign continues to capitalize off his base’s fear of Trump and his movement,

Meanwhile, Trump has not revealed any information about his fundraising but is at a disadvantage due to having to compete in the Republican primary. In his most recent fundraising updates, he has claimed to have $38 million on hand. In the final quarter of 2019, Trump raised a staggering sum of $154 million.

Article by Clark Franzman