Biden reelection effort raises $85 million in May, but trails Trump’s massive haul

U.S. President Joe Biden departs the White House in Washington, U.S., for a campaign fundraiser in California, May 9, 2024. 

Craig Hudson | Reuters

President Joe Biden’s reelection effort and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $85 million in May, according to exclusive data provided to CNBC by the Biden campaign.

The sum marks the president’s second-best month this cycle for fundraising, behind only March.

Still, it trailed significantly behind the $141 million that former President Donald Trump’s political operation and the Republican National Committee claim to have raised the same month.

The May fundraising left the Biden campaign and allied groups with $212 million in cash on hand at the end of the month, the data shows, up from $192 million at the end of April. A majority of the May fundraising, the campaign says, came from grassroots donors.

“Our strong and consistent fundraising program grew by millions of people in May, a clear sign of strong and growing enthusiasm for the President and Vice President every single month,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.

“The money we continue to raise matters, and it’s helping the campaign build out an operation that invests in reaching and winning the voters who will decide this election.”

The Biden team has been using the funds to build out a massive ground-game across the country, announcing earlier Thursday that it had just hired its 1,000th staffer.

The Trump campaign, by contrast, has been slow to staff up in key states, causing concern among some Republican strategists.

The May figures underscore how the presidential fundraising dynamic has shifted in recent weeks in favor of Trump, who has now significantly outraised his opponent in each of the past two months. In April, Trump’s allied groups and the RNC raised $76 million to Biden and the DNC’s $51 million.

Much of that momentum in May was fueled by small dollar fundraising around Trump’s trial and conviction late in the month on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment. The campaign said it raised nearly $53 million, or more than a third of their overall total, in the 24 hours after the verdict was announced.

Biden campaign officials highlight how in contrast, Biden did not have any major fundraisers or events during the month. May marked the second-best month for grassroots fundraising for Biden’s reelection effort, and the best month so far for recurring donations. 

One figure the Trump campaign has not reported this month—and will not be legally required to report until July—is its cash on hand. As of April, the Trump allied campaign’s overall war chest was about $60 million smaller than Biden’s—$88 million versus $146 million. 

It’s not year clear whether Trump’s latest fundraising push has helped him build out his cash pile. 

After May’s quiet month for Biden, both operations are on track to put up impressive numbers for June: Biden’s star-studded Hollywood fundraiser last week raised more than $30 million, while Trump’s West-Coast fundraising swing earlier in the month pulled in roughly $27.5 million.

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Bill Gates: Apple founder Steve Jobs was great at design but not a good …

In a recent interview, Bill Gates shared an interesting anecdote about his relationship with the late Steve Jobs, revealing that Jobs once suggested he should have taken LSD to improve his design sense. Gates recalled Jobs saying, “Steve Jobs once said that he wished I’d take acid because then maybe I would have had more

Who Is Aravind Srinivas, CEO Who Has Challenged Elon Musk Over USAID

New Delhi: Aravind Srinivas, the Indian-origin CEO of the AI search engine Perplexity AI, is not new to controversies. Recently, he challenged his Tesla counterpart Elon Musk to “stop” him if he can from raising a mammoth sum from the federal agency. “Considering raising $500B from USAID. Funding secured. Stop me if you can @elonmusk

Commercials Try to Shake Up Celebrity Formula

Celebrities may no longer be winning at the Big Game. An array of Super Bowl advertisers turned up with creative ideas that shunned the typical famous faces making quick-paced jokes in favor of concepts meant to inspire. Nike burnished a host of female athletes backed by the Led Zeppelin chestnut “Whole Lotta Love.” Pfizer took

How Elon Musk’s Company Starlink is Involved in a Super Bowl 2025 Commercial

By Olivia Bellusci is a Newsweek writer based in New York. Her focus is reporting on entertainment news. She has in depth knowledge of the pop culture landscape. Olivia joined Newsweek in 2024. She is a graduate of Pace University. You can get in touch with Olivia by emailing o.bellusci@newsweek.com. You can find her on

Taylor Swift, Blue Ivy Carter, and All the Celebrities at Super Bowl 2025

It’s Super Bowl 2025 time, and while many are glued to their screens for the Super Bowl LIX showdown between Taylor Swift and Gigi Hadid — sorry, we mean the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles — others are just in it for the celebrity sightings. And the celebs were out in full force in

Photos: Biggest Celebrities At Super Bowl 2025

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 09: (L-R) Kevin Costner and Pete Davidson attend the Super Bowl … [+] LIX Pregame at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation) Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation Kevin Costner, Pete Davidson, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Adam Sandler, Bradley

All the Celebs at the 2025 Super Bowl LIX

Celebrities are flocking to New Orleans faster than I flock to a table full of cheese dips, wings, and tiny football stadiums made out of deli meat. In other words: Super Bowl LIX is upon us, and A-listers have arrived to watch the Kansas City Chiefs go up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously, Taylor Swift

Celebrities at Super Bowl 2025

Dozens of Hollywood notables and celebrities are in New Orleans on Sunday to witness the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles during football’s biggest night. Jay-Z, Adam Sandler and Bradley Cooper were among players, coaches and thousands of fans inside the Caesars Superdome to watch Super Bowl LIX. The Grammy-winning rapper was spotted on the

Vance Accuses Judges Who Block Trump’s Executive Orders of Acting Illegally

Vice President JD Vance attacked federal judges on Sunday for blocking several of the Trump administration’s sweeping executive actions, characterizing their recent decisions as “illegal.” “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” Mr. Vance wrote on social media. Mr. Vance’s post raises questions about whether the Trump administration will abide by federal rulings

President Donald Trump Super Bowl pregame interview: How to watch

President Donald Trump prerecorded an interview with Bret Baier that’s scheduled to be aired on Sunday, ahead of Super Bowl 59. Part of the interview with Baier, Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor, will air at 3 p.m. ET during the Fox Super Bowl Sunday pregame show, according to Fox News. The rest of the interview

3 memoirs illustrate the peculiar lives of celebrities

Throughout the 1990s, I was a music journalist in London. I profiled hundreds of rock bands at the start of their careers, including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and the Foo Fighters. I can’t imagine a better way to have spent my twenties. But I witnessed a downside. For many

Which Celebrities Are Eagles and Chiefs Fans?

With Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX pitting the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles once again, viewers must decide who to root for — and if they want to jump on a bandwagon fanbase, there are plenty of celebrity fans they can get behind. The most famous and obvious fan is Taylor Swift, who has

Has WWE’s Use Of Streaming Celebrities Gone Too Far?

There has been an influx of celebrities getting involved in wrestling over recent years to varying degrees of success, with the general quality of their in-ring performances actually being pretty good. This has certainly been a feature of WWE in recent times, as they have welcomed the extra exposure that booking famous people from other

Trump says he has spoken with Putin about ending Ukraine war | US foreign policy

Donald Trump has said he held talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over a negotiated end of the three year Russia-Ukraine war, indicated that Russian negotiators want to meet with US counterparts. Trump told the New York Post that he had spoken to Putin, remarking that “I better not say” just how many times.

Donald Trump’s FBI nominee Kash Patel under fire over Shein stake

Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has come under scrutiny over his business ties, including holding stock in a group that owns Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion retailer accused of using forced labour. Patel stated in a financial disclosure form that he held $1mn-$5mn worth of shares in Elite Depot, a Cayman Islands group

I understand why families are divided and friendships are disintegrating over Trump

Quick Take Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric, manner and needs are so abhorrent and terrifying that retired attorney Peter Gelblum understands why talking about him causes rifts in families. He fears this state will only get worse as the Trump presidency advances. Trump supporters will just have to accept why friends and family don’t want to

Trump’s sanctions against the ICC are disgraceful | Kenneth Roth

Donald Trump’s executive order reauthorizing sanctions against international criminal court (ICC) personnel reflects a disgraceful effort to ensure that no American, or citizen of an ally such as Israel, is ever investigated or prosecuted. Quite apart from this warped sense of justice – that it is only for other people – the president’s limited view

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x