Biden continues his fundraising momentum, raising $53 million in February.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, both of whom became their party’s nominees last week, are locked in a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, but an average of early polls shows that both national and multiple Opinion polls in battleground states give Trump a slight advantage, and the situation has reversed in most of the country. The state of the 2020 race. Support for third-party and independent presidential candidates is also higher than at this point in 2020.

The Biden campaign has moved to leverage its economic advantage against Trump this month, with Trump just in the midst of integrating operations with the Republican National Committee. The Biden team announced plans to open more than 100 offices this month and launched a $30 million spring advertising campaign in key states.

“Every penny we raise now speaks to voters, whether it’s a TV ad, an online ad or an office opening,” said Rufus Gifford, the campaign’s finance chairman. . “Our opponents are spending tens of millions of dollars in litigation costs. This is a huge advantage we have, and we’re excited about it.”

Trump’s political committee spent $55 million in legal fees to defend former President Trump last year as he faces multiple lawsuits and four separate criminal charges, according to campaign finance disclosures. I spent more than that.

The total $53 million raised from the Biden campaign and other party accounts in February is more than President Barack Obama raised during the same period in 2012, but not when accounting for inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, President Obama raised $45 million in February of that year, which is equivalent to about $61 million in today’s purchasing power.

But Biden clearly outperformed Obama on another measure. President Obama reported about 350,000 donors in February 2012, while the Biden campaign claimed 469,000 unique donors at the same point in the current cycle. Biden’s efforts have received 3.4 million donations from 1.3 million donors since the campaign began, according to a campaign release. Gifford said the total exceeded expectations within the campaign, but declined to say what those expectations were.

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, a campaign co-chair who appeared in a photo with the president this month as he prepared for the State of the Union address at Camp David, said the biggest change in recent months is that Biden’s campaign has become more active. He said that this is due to the fact that it has become 5th speech in Pennsylvania commemorating the attack on the US Capitol before President Biden’s inauguration.

“It became increasingly clear that this was now a choice, and the enthusiasm and excitement really started to come out of Valley Forge in January, where the president began campaigning in earnest, went into campaign mode, and spoke to the public. We started talking,’ engaging more actively with donors,” Katzenberg said. “The more you watch him, the more confident and enthusiastic you see them grow.” [grows]”

The campaign reported a 40% increase in email fundraising in February compared to the previous month, attributing the shift to a more Trump-focused message. Another bright spot was a fundraising campaign centered around a late March event in New York City where Biden appeared at Radio City Music Hall with former Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton.

The February total was also announced before Biden’s March 7 State of the Union address, which was widely praised by Democrats and raised $10 million in the 24 hours following the speech. Since that speech, Mr. Biden has begun a tour of battleground states, picking up the pace of campaigning that many anxious Democrats had hoped he would do.

He visited Pennsylvania and Georgia in the days after the State of the Union, and last week campaigned in New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin. This week, he plans to travel to Nevada and Arizona.

Since the State of the Union address, the president has stepped up his attacks on Trump, accusing him of being a threat to individual rights, freedoms and democracy.

In the first ad of a newly launched $30 million ad campaign, the president squarely confronts concerns about his age.

“Look, I’m not a young man,” Biden said at the beginning of the 60 seconds spot. “It’s no secret, but this is the deal. I understand how to get things done for the American people.”