Harris campaign raises twice as much money as Trump's

Photo: Brandon Bell Getty Images via Agence France-Presse Kamala Harris, who will officially be the Democratic candidate for the US nomination, has raised more than double the fund as her Republican opponent.

Agence France-Presse in Washington

Published and updated on August 2

• United States

Kamala Harris’ campaign announced it raised $310 million (C$430 million) in July, more than double the amount raised by Donald Trump, much of it since the vice president replaced Joe Biden in the November election.

While fundraising plays a vital role in American campaigns, with often astronomical amounts, the new Democratic candidate raised $200 million in less than a week after Joe Biden withdrew on July 21, as donors disenchanted with the aging president returned.

Kamala Harris’ campaign “raised $310 million in July, the largest fundraiser for the 2024 election,” it announced in a statement.

The fundraising haul was “fueled by the best month of small-donor fundraising in the history of a U.S. presidential election” and is “more than double” what Donald Trump’s campaign raised in the same month, she said.

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The Republican candidate’s team announced in a statement Thursday that it had raised $138.7 million (C$192.4 million) in July, a significant sum earned in the month that Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and received a triumphant endorsement at the Republican convention.

The staggering sums of American presidential campaigns are largely spent on very expensive clips promoting the candidates’ records and promises. The Internet and television channels are flooded with them during the months preceding the election.

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The NGO Open Secrets, which specializes in political financing, estimates that the 2024 election could be the most expensive in American history, surpassing the record of 5.7 billion US dollars (about 7.9 billion Canadian) spent on the 2020 election.

Weighed down by voter concerns and pressure from elected officials about his age and his physical and mental abilities, Joe Biden, 81, has given in and announced his support for his vice-president Kamala Harris to take up the torch. She should be officially designated by her party at the beginning of August.

Since then, the Democratic camp has benefited from a new favourable momentum but, observers warn, it should be wary of excessive optimism, because, even if the gap is narrowing, Donald Trump still maintains a lead in the polls.