Last month, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign held a fundraiser at New York City’s glitzy Radio City Music Hall. The campaign enlisted Biden’s former President Barack Obama, in addition to former President Bill Clinton. It raised almost $27 million in 24 hours, a record haul.
Now, former President Donald Trump, running a rival campaign, has smashed Biden’s 24-hour record. On Sunday, Trump’s campaign announced that it had raised $50.5 million in one day.
Biden and the Democrats may be sitting on a deeper chest of cash… but Trump is speeding up his collection.
Trump held the event at the home of billionaire investor John Paulson. At Paulson’s palace in Florida’s Palm Beach community, Trump met with big donors… and, according to the numbers released, he set a single-event record for fundraising.
“This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people — they wanted to contribute to a cause of making America great again, and that’s what’s happened,” Trump, alongside the former first lady, told reporters while entering the event.
The campaign has billed the event as the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” and it’s been credited by pundits with trumpeting a new era for GOP fundraising, which has trailed the Demcorats’ operation during this election cycle.
Trump and the GOP disclosed their $93.1 million war chest earlier this month, and they announced $65.6 million raised in March.
However, Biden and the Democrats announced more than $90 million raised in just March, and they claim to have finished the month with a whopping $192 million on hand.
The Trump campaign is expected to formally file its fundraising report much later, sometime before the Federal Election Commission’s mid-July deadline for filing the report on Saturday’s event.
The Democrat Party credits its fundraising success to a ground game.
“While Donald Trump has been busy awarding himself golf trophies at Mar-a-Lago and palling around with billionaires, Joe Biden has been crisscrossing the nation connecting with voters and outlining his vision to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement, referring to Trump’s estate in Florida.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign remains optimistic about its fundraising trajectory. After all, it’s trending up, and it’s pushed aside rival candidate Nikki Haley, a favorite of the big donors.
“It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,” Trump’s campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement.
The event on Saturday hosted about 100 guests, including several billionaires. According to the invitations, the event will be directing contributions to the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising agreement between Trump’s Save America PAC and Republican National Committee, and the RNC state-level affiliates.
Attendees would receive a seat at Trump’s table in exchange for a $814,600 donation. For a $250,000 donation, they’d receive a photo op and other goodies.
Three of Trump’s onetime rivals — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and entrepreneur-turned-author Vivek Ramaswamy — were expected to appear as “special guests.” All three have suspended their presidential campaigns to endorse Trump.
It remains unclear how much of that money will go to Trump’s campaign… or to down-ballot races.
The Trump 47 Committee gives the maximum amount allowed to to the campaign and the PAC, before giving the leftovers to the RNC or state parties. What’s more, the PAC helps to pay Trump’s legal bills, in addition to its campaign duties.
Still, the Trump campaign had a very, very good day on Saturday.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.