For months, the Biden campaign has been able to outspend Team Trump thanks to a significant cash advantage as the 2024 presidential race heats up. That advantage, however, has been dramatically overturned after the presumptive GOP nominee’s staggering fundraising haul in May. This significant shift in the financial landscape, which stemmed from large fundraising events with high-dollar donors and a historic level of small-dollar donations that bolstered the campaign following his conviction in New York, is a clear indication of the changing dynamics in the race.
According to the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, Republicans raised $141 million in May, a nearly $60 million advantage over the Democrats. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised only $85 million in May. Overall, the RNC and Trump reported over $170 million cash on hand, compared to the DNC and Biden’s $157 million cash on hand.
In addition to Trump’s May fundraising haul, a super PAC backing him, Make America Great Again Inc., raised nearly $70 million last month thanks to a $50 million donation from billionaire Timothy Mellon and two $5 million donations from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, per POLITICO.
While the Biden campaign was unable to match Team Trump’s momentum in May, they did spend a considerable amount of their cash, about $30 million mainly went to ad buys and media production. The Biden campaign is also spending an exorbitant amount of money on payroll each month compared to its competition. According to the FEC filings, the Biden campaign spent $3.8 million on staff compared to Trump’s $176,000. The stark disparity in payroll shows the difference in strategy between the two campaigns, with Biden focused on building out a large operation while Trump maintains a more lean operation with some of his campaign staffers moving over to the RNC’s payroll.
Trump’s ability to overtake Biden in fundraising was driven by both small-dollar donors and donations from billionaires. As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, the Trump campaign raised a record-breaking $34.8 million from small-dollar donors following his conviction at the end of last month. Trump campaign advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita stated that nearly 30 percent of donors on Thursday evening were first-time givers.
Recent donations from billionaires like the Winklevoss twins have also helped fill the Trump campaign’s coffers. Tyler Winklevoss explained on X that he is donating to the Trump campaign because of his pro-crypto policy stances and pro-business mentality.
While both Team Trump and the Biden campaign are neck-in-neck on cash on hand, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has struggled to keep up. The Kennedy campaign reported only $6.4 million cash on hand last month after raising just $2.5 million. The super PAC backing him had even worse luck after only raising $281,000 with only $19 million on hand. Kennedy’s inability to fundraise could doom his campaign in the long run as both Biden and Trump prepare a war chest to carry them through the next few months before November.
