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Joe Biden’s campaign raised more than Donald Trump in June, despite the president’s disastrous debate performance last week.
The Biden campaign raised $127 million in June, compared to Trump’s $111.8m, according to announcements from both campaigns on Tuesday.
The president’s June fundraising haul includes $38m in the four days after the 2024 debate. During the face-off against Trump, the 81-year-old president at times muddled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
As a result, the president is facing a growing chorus of calls to step down, including some from within his own party.
On Tuesday, the president blamed his poor debate performance on jet lag, telling reporters that he “wasn’t very smart” for “travelling around the world a couple of times” before the event.
However, some Democrats weren’t convinced. Representative Lloyd Doggett, of Texas, became the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to publicly call for Biden to step aside. Former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan wrote in a Newsweek op-ed that he believes Vice President Kamala Harris is the party’s “best path forward,” accusing those who believe she has less of a chance of beating Trump than “the Joe Biden we saw the other night and will continue to see” of “not living in reality”.
Despite Biden’s campaign haul in June - boosted by a $30m LA fundraiser featuring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barack Obama - the Trump campaign raised more overall in the second quarter.
Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $331m in the second quarter, according to their report, while Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised $264m in the same period.
The Trump campaign ended June with more cash on hand than the Democrats, raising $284.9m to Biden’s $240m.
However, Trump has been forced to balance his campaign costs with his growing legal bills. The former president spent $55m on legal bills in 2023, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Trump started May owing his lawyers a seven-figure sum. The Save America leadership political action committee (PAC), founded and controlled by Trump, continues to absorb most of the cost from his legal troubles.
