Washington: Nearly a week after US President Joe Biden exited the presidential race and endorsed his deputy Kamala Harris as his successor, the Vice President’s campaign has raised USD 200 million, Al Jazeera reported.
The campaign, which announced its latest fundraising total on Sunday, said the bulk of the donations — 66 per cent — came from first-time contributors in the 2024 election cycle.
Additionally, over 1,70,000 volunteers have also signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts.
“The momentum and energy for Vice President Harris is real — and so are the fundamentals of this race: this election will be very close and decided by a small number of voters in just a few states,” Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, wrote in a memo.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s campaign said in early July that it raised USD 331 million in the second quarter, topping the USD 264 million that Biden’s campaign and its Democratic allies raised in the same period.
Trump’s campaign had USD 284.9 million in cash on hand at the end of June, while the Democratic campaign had USD 240 million in cash on hand at the time.
Harris quickly coalesced Democratic support after Biden, whose candidature fizzled following his disastrous June 27 debate performance against Trump, exited the race.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were quick to announce their support.
Prodigious Democratic fundraisers, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, also announced their endorsement on Friday.
The Democratic National Convention next month will, however, decide if Harris will become the party’s nominee, Al Jazeera reported.
Harris, at her fundraiser on Saturday, said she remained the “underdog” in the race but that her campaign was picking up steam.
Her takeover has re-energised a campaign that had faltered badly, as Democrats were left in doubt about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue in the White House if he had won.
Meanwhile, in his campaign appearance in St Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday, Trump called Harris a “crazy liberal,” accused her of wanting to “defund the police,” and said she was an “absolute radical” on abortion.
As 100 days are left until the elections, polls over the past week have shown Harris and Trump essentially tied, setting the stage for a close-fought campaign, Al Jazeera reported.
On Sunday, Mitch Landrieu, a campaign co-chair, said on MSNBC that Harris “had one of the best weeks that we’ve seen in politics in the last 50 years.”
“This is going to be a very close race,” he said.
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