Biden campaign raises more than $33M since debate with Trump

President Biden’s campaign has raked in more than $33 million since his debate with former President Trump last week despite some backlash about his performance.

In an email on Sunday, a Biden campaign official said they had raised more than $33 million since Thursday’s debate, including $26 million from grassroots donations. This fundraising haul comes despite some Democrats’ concerns about Biden’s lackluster performance last week.

The campaign said that nearly half of its grassroots donations came from first-time donors in the 2024 election cycle, noting that Thursday was “our best grassroots fundraising day ever, while Friday was the second best.”

The official said they have more recurring donations at this point in the 2024 cycle than at the same time in 2020, which they said is “a major indicator of grassroots support and fundraising sustainability.”

The campaigns for Biden and former President Trump each touted their fundraising numbers following the debate. Biden’s campaign raised more than $27 million between debate day and Friday evening, the team said Saturday morning. The Trump campaign raised $8 million on the day of the debate.

Biden and his campaign have been defending the president amid the concerns, shutting down suggestions that Biden should step down from the ballot and let someone else secure the nomination. Biden’s campaign said in a Saturday memo that the debate “did not change the horse race.”

Biden addressed the debate at a rally in North Carolina on Friday.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said at a campaign rally in Raleigh.

“But I know what I do know,” he continued. “I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”