Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee took in a combined $364 million from donors in August, an unprecedented fundraising haul that shatters existing records.
The previous record for a single month of fundraising for a presidential campaign was the $193 million raised by then-Sen. Barack Obama in September 2008.
Biden, in an email to supporters Wednesday, said his campaign’s haul “blows me away.”
The former vice president added, “And we raised it the right way, from people across the country stepping up to own a piece of this campaign, investing in the future we want to see for our kids and grandkids.”
Biden’s characterization of his fundraising didn’t tell the whole story. While the campaign raised a record $205 million online in August, much of the remaining cash came from major donors on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley and across the country who can legally cut checks of up to $721,300 to his White House bid.
His campaign and the DNC had raised $140 million in July, trailing the $165 million brought in by President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee that same month.
As of the end of July, the two campaigns had similar amounts of money in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission records: Biden had $294 million, while Trump had just over $300 million.
A major fundraising boost for Biden followed his selection of Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate. ActBlue, which processes donations for Democratic candidates, set numerous records in the weeks that followed.
The massive sums brought in by Biden mean Trump is unlikely to have a significant financial edge in the final weeks of the campaign. Democratic outside groups, including super political action committees like Priorities USA and American Bridge, have outspent their GOP equivalents for much of the year.
Still, Biden ended his e-mail to supporters by warning about $30 million worth of ads launched by a new GOP super PAC, Preserve America. The ads falsely suggest that he supports defunding local police forces.
“Trump’s money machine remains and it’s bolstered by outside, dark money ― not grassroots donors like all of you,” Biden said. “And you better believe they will pour it all into attacks and smears against me, against Kamala, and against our campaign. Just this week a new Trump Super PAC launched $30 million in new ads full of lies.”
The Trump campaign has yet to announce its August fundraising number.