Democrats are privately concerned about President Joe Biden’s fundraising abilities for his 2024 reelection bid as his campaign won’t release their second quarter fundraising totals ahead of the filing deadline in mid-July, according to Politico.
Both of the Republican primary field’s frontrunners, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, released their campaigns’ second quarter totals this week, but Biden’s campaign is holding off until the Federal Election Committee’s deadline on July 15 to do so, according to Politico. While Biden campaign officials stress they are in a good place, some Democrats fear the president is being too frugal and isn’t raising enough.
“No matter what the White House wants to say, you take a survey and a huge plurality of Democratic voters don’t even want him to run again,” a national Democratic strategist told Politico. “There’s really an enthusiasm gap that I think is their central challenge.”
Biden’s reelection campaign has hired less than 20 staffers, hasn’t announced a headquarters and didn’t fund the president’s first-of-the-year rally, according to Politico. The president’s political operation officials argue Biden doesn’t need to heavily campaign or fundraise at this point, and that they’re focused on saving money.
“Right now, we have a fine-tuned race car here. At some point, we will build out a big, substantial, competitive organization and enterprise,” campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg told Politico. “We don’t need to do that today. It literally would be a waste of money.
Some Democrats are worried about the Biden campaign’s frugality and argue the president and outside fundraising groups could have spent over $2 billion by now, according to Politico. Combined with Biden-aligned super political action committees (PACs), the president has spent $7.5 million on TV and digital advertisements since his late April campaign launch, compared to Trump’s political operation allocating $16.4 during the same period.
“I am always a big believer in hoarding resources for the real meat of a campaign,” Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board, told Politico. “I think saving money now will just prove to be wise come next year when you really need it.”
Trump’s campaign, combined with his aligned fundraising committee, the “Save America PAC,” raised $35 million in 2023’s second fundraising quarter. DeSantis’ campaign reported raising $20 million alone for the same period, but along with the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down, the governor’s White House bid totaled $150 million.
Biden also failed to announce how much he had raised in the reelection campaign’s first 24 hours, according to Politico, while DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott released their totals to the tune of $8.2 million and $2 million, respectively. In Biden’s first day as a presidential candidate in 2019, his campaign reported raising $6.3 million, according to the New York Times.
The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average for a 2024 national Democratic primary, based on polls conducted between June 5 and June 26, indicates Biden is leading the field by roughly 50 points, followed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson at 14.4% and 5.7%, respectively.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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