Biden’s political operation raises $51 million in April, a significant decline

CNN
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President Joe Biden’s political operation raised $51 million in April — a significant decline from its March fundraising, according to totals released by his campaign Monday.

Biden’s campaign and affiliated committees still ended the month with $192 million in the bank, according to his aides — a war chest they described as the highest cash-on-hand figure for any Democratic candidate in history and one they say positions the president to compete effectively with former President Donald Trump.

Trump’s aides announced earlier this month that he had raised more than $76 million for his campaign and allied committees in April, after the GOP’s presumptive nominee ramped up his joint fundraising operation with the Republican National Committee and headlined high-dollar fundraisers, even as he spends parts of his week on trial in a Manhattan criminal court.

Biden’s political operation had announced raising more than $90 million in March, bookended by a fiery State of the Union speech at the start of the month and a high-profile fundraiser in New York at the month’s end that featured him with two of his predecessors, former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

In a statement, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the former president’s fundraising performance is “especially remarkable when you consider he has been confined to a courtroom for nearly 9 hours a day over the past four weeks.”

The money he’s raised in April – along with polling – show “the momentum is 100% on President Trump’s side,” she said.

Fundraising has been one of the bright spots for Biden’s campaign as he battles persistently low poll numbers and close contests in key battleground states, and the slowdown is sure to cause consternation among Democrats. But Trump’s filings also highlight potential trouble spots for his campaign: His operation continues to spend heavily on helping the former president confront his legal troubles and relatively modestly on the day-to-day business of campaigning.

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On Monday, Biden’s aides took pains to try to cast the slower fundraising pace in a better light, pointing to what they said were signs of enduring small-dollar support and organizational strength.

In a statement, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said the April haul reflected “strong consistent grassroots enthusiasm for reelecting” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She said Trump’s campaign “continues to burn through cash” and has “no ground game.”

Biden’s campaign said April was the strongest month for recurring donors so far, with those contributors giving more than $5.5 million. They also said the campaign added a million more supporters to its email lists last month.

The Biden team said it has used its money to build a ground operation with more than 150 offices and more than 500 staffers across key battleground states.

Monday was the deadline for presidential campaigns and the national political parties to file monthly reports on fundraising and spending with federal election regulators, but the joint fundraising committees that each White House candidate relies upon to bring in funds don’t have to file their disclosures with the Federal Election Commission until July.

Trump’s campaign aides have not released cash-on-hand totals for all the committees affiliated with his election effort, but Trump’s campaign report, filed Monday night, shows it ended April with $49.1 million remaining in the bank, only modestly better than the $45.1 million the campaign had in its war chest at the end of March.

Biden’s campaign ended April with $84.5 million…