President Biden’s campaign said Tuesday it had a record-breaking fundraising month in June — despite the 81-year-old Democrat’s horrid debate performance against GOP candidate Donald Trump.
Biden’s campaign raked in $127 million, or nearly 50% more than in May, according to a press release.
About 30% of the June figure, or $38 million, was raised in the hours leading up to his disastrous June 27 debate and the three days after, even as Biden disappointed many top Dems with his performance, which was riddled with freezes, a raspy voice and sometimes incoherent trains of thoughts.
The Biden campaign had already been boasting its pre-debate figures over the past week, when the campaign said it had historic grassroots donation days.
The campaign media effort comes as even Democrat allies have raised alarms over Biden’s cognitive abilities and his capacity to continue in a second term — with some longtime powerful supporters calling for him to step aside.
The June figures signal the best month the Biden team has had in the 2024 election cycle so far and boost its second quarter numbers to $264 million, with $240 million cash on hand.
The strong month positions Biden better against the numbers recently pulled in by Trump — whose team outpaced the president in fundraising in both April and May.
The former president’s team has yet to release its June figures.
In May, Trump actually got a financial boost from his guilty verdict in his Manhattan “hush money” case, raking in $53 million in the 24 hours after the verdict was read May 30. The 45th president finished off the month with a record-smashing $141 million compared to Biden’s $85 million for the month.
Trump’s team also touted a $76 million April haul, besting Biden’s $51 million for the month.
To raise his numbers, the president had spent the past month participating in several splashy mega fundraisers across the country, including a billionaire-hosted big-money event in the Hamptons on the Friday after the CNN debate and a star-studded Hollywood fundraiser with George Clooney and Julia Roberts earlier in the month that brought in $30 million.
His campaign pointed to its fundraising numbers as proof that Biden should continue in the 2024 race.
“Our Q2 fundraising haul is a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters standing firmly behind the President and Vice President and clear evidence that our voters understand the choice in this election between President Biden fighting for the American people and Donald Trump fighting for himself as a convicted felon,” said Biden Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez in a statement.