Bernie Sanders raised over $1m within the first few hours of announcing his campaign for the US presidency, a figure that puts him well ahead of his opponents in the 2020 race.
Mr Sanders’s fundraising totals were revealed by campaign aides several hours after the veteran senator announced the launch of his campaign during an interview with Vermont Public Radio.
“What I promise to do is, as I go around the country, is to take the values that all of us in Vermont are proud of — a belief in justice, in community, in grassroots politics, in town meetings — that's what I'm going to carry all over this country,” Mr Sanders said as he revealed his plans for a second attempt at winning the Democratic Party's nomination.
While it will be months before the fundraising figures can be independently confirmed, Mr Sanders’s campaign indicated that they had received at least one donation from each state.
It was not clear how much the average donation to the campaign was.
Small dollar fundraising has come to be seen as a major indicator of a candidate’s ability to run a formidable campaign in the 2020 Democratic primaries, with other candidates like California Senator Kamala Harris and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar both pulling in over $1m within the first couple of days of announcing.
Ms Harris raised $1.5m in 24 hours, according to her campaign. Ms Klobuchar pulled in over $1m within 48 hours of announcing her candidacy.
Mr Sanders, during his announcement, claimed that he is not running in 2020 only to beat Donald Trump.
“Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump,” Mr Sanders said. “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.”
