Kamala Harris has raised over a billion dollars, mostly from small donors since July.
The Harris campaign raised $97.2 million in the first half of October alone, while the Trump campaign raised only $16.2 million, after Harris shook up what was previously a more evenly matched cash race (Biden and Trump had raised $284.1 million and $217.2 million in total as of the end of June, respectively).
The Harris Victory Fund—which raises money for both Harris’ campaign and Democratic groups—raised $1.2 billion this election cycle, according to a FEC filing released Thursday.
While Harris had already garnered a fundraising lead over Trump, her donations shot up in September: NBC News first reported that Harris and affiliated committees had passed the $1 billion mark since she entered the race based on her September fundraising, which included $47 million the campaign reported raising in the 24 hours after Harris’ debate against Trump on Sept. 10—her largest one-day haul since entering the race—and lucrative fundraisers in New York City and San Francisco last month that reportedly took in between $27 million and $28 million apiece.
The Harris campaign didn’t publicly report how much it took in in September before federal filings were released over the weekend, with the New York Times reporting it didn’t want to “brag” about its big donations and make voters complacent.
That kind of fundraising does suggest a lot of enthusiasm from regular voters. Trump on the other hand seems to prefer to have his voters send him cash directly by buying the hideous junk he’s selling. But then his campaign, through his super pacs, is doing just fine. He has a lot of enthusiasm too — from his pet billionaires:
Elon Musk has donated $119 million to Trump’s cause
Timothy Mellon has donated $125 million
Miriam Adelson has donated $100 million
Together those three billionaires have given $344 million.
Just don’t say that they’re buying the election.