President Joe Biden's reelection campaign raised more than $97 million in the fourth fundraising quarter and campaign officials bragged on social media that the "historic" amount of money to burn is more than even former President Barack Obama could bring in.
Citing figures from the Biden campaign, the Washington Examiner reported that the president's team has $117 million in cash on hand, marking the "highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle."
December was reportedly the strongest fundraising month for the Democrat incumbent since the campaign launched and the Examiner reported that Team Biden credited the fourth-quarter haul to "grassroots support."
"I remember when [Obama campaign manager Jim Messina] told me to shoot for $100 million in Q4 of 2011," Biden finance chair Rufus Gifford wrote in a post on X. "Even the much-praised Obama fundraising machine couldn't get even close and we scratched and clawed our way to $68 million as I was refreshing our totals on New Year's Eve."
After adjusting for inflation, $68 million in December 2011 is equal to approximately $92 million in December 2023, meaning that Biden only surpassed Obama's haul by just $5 million, instead of the $29 million Gifford implied. The president has been continually attacked for perniciously-high inflation throughout his first term in office.
Numbers from former President Donald Trump's campaign were not yet available; however, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination ended the third quarter with $37.5 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Biden's campaign says it is armed with campaign contributions and ready to take on the challenge of the 2024 general election.
"This historic haul — proudly powered by strong and growing grassroots enthusiasm — sends a clear message: The Team Biden-Harris coalition knows the stakes of this election and is ready to win this November," Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said, according to the Examiner.
"Our democracy and hard-fought basic rights and freedoms are on the line in 2024, and these numbers prove that the American people know the stakes and are taking action early to help defeat the extreme MAGA Republican agenda again," Chavez Rodriguez added.
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Monday found Biden's approval rating is at 33% — the lowest of any chief executive in the past 15 years. The president also has a 58% disapproval rating, according to the survey.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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