President Trump’s reelection committees said they have raised more than $212 million in the first three months of the year, a massive sum that boosts the president’s cash lead as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden begins shifting his focus to the general election.
In comparison, former president Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and their joint fundraising operation raised about $127 million in the first quarter of 2012, according to data from the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute.
The Trump campaign and joint committees raised more than $63 million in March alone, for a total haul of more than $677 million, they said. The committees raised $60.5 million in January and $86 million in February, and the new figures suggest fundraising dropped off in March.
Trump has had a fundraising advantage as the incumbent, and began raising reelection money far earlier than any of his predecessors. Party officials said Trump’s fundraising operation has gone completely virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 880,000 volunteers making more than 17 million voter contacts since March 13.
“Americans can see President Trump leading this nation through a serious crisis and they are responding with their continued enthusiastic support for his re-election,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. “Joe Biden, Democrats, and the media continue to oppose his every action, but the people know that President Trump is fighting for them so they are fighting for him as well.”
Biden has raised at least $121 million so far. As the presumptive Democratic nominee, he and the Democratic National Committee can strike an agreement to jointly raise money for the general-election campaign and close the money gap with Trump and the RNC. By this point in the 2012 campaign, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney had begun his own joint fundraising operation.
DNC officials said Monday that they do not yet have official plans for one, saying in a statement: “We will have conversations with the campaign and figure out the best path forward that puts our nominee in the best position possible in order to beat Donald Trump.”
Biden posted his strongest monthly fundraising record in February of $18 million, and aides said the campaign raised $33 million in the first two weeks of March, when donors consolidated around his candidacy after most of the other Democrats ended their bids.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suspended his campaign last week, leaving Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Trump.