President Biden and former President Trump are fundraising in entirely different ways ahead of the 2024 Election. While Biden has continued to receive massive donations from corporations and special interest groups, the president’s campaign is struggling mightily to secure small dollar donations. The opposite is true for former President Trump, who has seen a massive spike in small dollar donations, which are defined as contributions to candidates or political action committees valued between $1 and $200.
According to FEC records, 35 percent of Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign donations have been from big donors, or contributions greater than $2,000. Just 38 percent of the president’s current campaign donations have come from small donors, or contributions valued between $1 and $200.
As for the Trump campaign, 61 percent of campaign funds have come from small donors while just nine percent have come from big donors. Between 2020 and 2024, President Biden’s total donations from big donors have increased by 10 percentage points, while the former president’s numbers have decreased by the same margin.
The latest figures were reported on the heels of Biden’s swanky New York City fundraiser earlier this week. Headlined by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the event raised a whopping $26 million, with tickets ranging as high as $25,000 a piece.
Outside the venue was a different story, however, as the divide between the corporate-funded Biden campaign and the progressive left was on full display. Hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters turned out to relentlessly heckle the president’s supporters, with many shouting that they will “never” vote for Biden due to his inability to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Trump recently met with a number of perspective billionaire donors, including Elon Musk, in Palm Beach last month. While Musk has fiercely criticized the Biden Administration, he has shot down reports that he is planning to make massive donations to Trump at this time.
The former president will be hoping that a fundraising surge at the Republican National Committee will continue after former chair Ronna McDaniel was replaced by former North Carolina Republican Party chair Michael Whatley and Lara Trump. The RNC posted their highest fundraising numbers since the 2020 election in the days following the shakeup.