Saturday, 4 May 2024

Trump Raises $24.8 Million in 24 Hours, Swamping Democrats’ First-Day Totals

President Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday that he had raised $24.8 million over 24 hours as he kicked off his re-election bid, an enormous haul that punctuates the financial advantage he is expected to enjoy over his Democratic challengers in 2020.

Mr. Trump’s one-day total was more than any Democratic presidential candidate raised in the entire first quarter of 2019, though it included money that went to joint fund-raising committees with the Republican National Committee. It came as he held a huge rally in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday night, telling throngs of cheering supporters that his new campaign slogan would be “Keep America Great.”

Democratic strategists have fretted for months that Mr. Trump will spend 2019 building up a large war chest while the 23 Democrats running for president raise far smaller sums and then use that money to bludgeon one another in the primary campaign.

Mr. Trump had already raised nearly $100 million for his re-election effort by the end of March, and had more than $40 million still on hand at that time. His campaign has spent millions of dollars on online advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google to find potential small donors, an investment that appeared to pay off handsomely on Tuesday.

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A spokesman for the R.N.C. said the $24.8 million figure was the total for the Trump campaign and its two joint fund-raising committees with the party, which can accept checks for larger sums. Republicans had organized a day of phone calls to major donors on Tuesday to maximize their fund-raising haul.

All told, $6 million was raised online, with an average contribution of $44; $8 million came from the phone-bank operation run jointly by the campaign and the R.N.C.; and $10.8 million came from larger donors to the R.N.C., a party official said.

One of the financial advantages an incumbent president enjoys is the ability to raise money in larger increments through the party.

Mr. Trump filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for his re-election campaign on Jan. 20, 2017, the day he was inaugurated, but his team considered Tuesday the public kickoff of his 2020 bid.

The single-day take of $24.8 million was nearly quadruple what former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. collected in the 24 hours after he officially declared himself a candidate, $6.3 million. Mr. Biden’s 24-hour total was the best of any Democrat in the race.

In fact, Mr. Trump’s haul was more than Mr. Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Elizabeth Warren raised in their first 24 hours as candidates — combined.

Mr. Sanders raised the most money of any Democrat in the first quarter of this year, $18.2 million, followed by Ms. Harris ($12 million) and Mr. O’Rourke ($9.4 million). Mr. Biden, who entered the race in April, has not yet filed a quarterly fund-raising report but told donors this week that his campaign had raised nearly $20 million so far.

Mr. Trump and his allies celebrated their fund-raising success on Twitter on Wednesday. “Crushing the competition,” wrote Brad Parscale, the president’s campaign manager.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

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