Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden managed to bring in a staggering $6.3 million in contributions during the 24 hours after officially launching his campaign on Thursday, even pulling in $700,000 during a Philadelphia fundraiser hosted by a Comcast executive.
Befitting of his status as a former VP and the leader in most national polls, Biden managed to beat out Bernie Sander’s day-one haul of $5.9 million, despite the still-simmering controversy over ‘gropegate’ and the backlash over his treatment of Anita Hill, a young black female lawyer who accused Supreme Court nominee (now Justice) Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Hill rejected a personal apology from Biden earlier this week, even as Biden clarified during an interview on ABC’s “the View” that he wasn’t apologizing for his personal behavior, but rather for the treatment she was subjected to during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he led at the time.
Biden’s day-one haul also beat out the $6.1 million raised by Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke during his first day, though recent polls show that enthusiasm for O’Rourke among Democrats has waned as South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg has benefited from a media blitz of fawning coverage.
Keep your hands where we can see them, Joe
Biden’s team said Friday that it had received contributions from nearly 97,000 donors, all of which was dedicated to the primary campaign. Biden touted this as a sign that he is running a ‘truly grassroots’ campaign, despite the fact that other candidates have boasted larger donor numbers. Sanders received contributions from 225,000 donors on his first day, while O’Rourke received contributions from 128,000 donors.
But as one twitter wit pointed out, Biden is much more reliant on large-dollar individual donors than his rivals.
Looking at the verbiage Biden’s campaign used, he only raised approximately $3.6-3.9 million online…
(41 x 96,926) pic.twitter.com/bk16t60AD6
— Matt Gorman (@mattsgorman) April 26, 2019
Of course, none of the Democrats have even come close to President Trump, whose re-election campaign has already raised more than $30 million despite the fact that it hasn’t really started yet.
But having waited so long to launch his campaign, Biden is going to need to play catch up to some of his better-capitalized rivals, some of whom have already raised more than $20 million, according to fundraising figures from Q1.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Fortunately, as the establishment favorite to clinch the nomination, Biden will benefit from a series of fundraisers hosted by Hollywood luminaries, including movie mogul Jeff Katzenberg and director Rob Reiner.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2IZgMxi Tyler Durden