The campaign of former President Donald Trump announced on July 5 that he raised more than $35 million for his White House bid in the second fundraising quarter, nearly double what he raised in the first quarter of the year.
The amount is the most recent indication that Mr. Trump is the dominant frontrunner in the Republican primary and that being indicted twice—in New York and Florida—has only strengthened his standing among his most ardent supporters.
The average donation to Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign has reached $34, the campaign said as evidence of his grassroots support.
The sum represents the campaign period from April 1 to June 30 and represents a substantial increase from earlier in the year.
The Trump campaign reported raising $18.8 million between his principal campaign account and a joint fundraising account during the first three months of 2024.
Even after Mr. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in late March on charges related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign, $4 million was raised.
Mr. Trump’s campaign announced last month that it had raised over $6.6 million in the days following his second indictment—this time in Miami on federal charges related to his reported stockpiling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and alleged attempts to obstruct their return.
This included over $4.5 million in online donations and $2.1 million raised at a lavish fundraiser held the night of his arraignment at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
DeSantis Fundraising
The presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis announced robust fundraising results on July 6, saying his campaign raised $20 million in its first six weeks. In the meantime, his independent Super PAC has raised $130 million since its launch in early March.
In a written statement, Mr. DeSantis’ campaign stated that his fundraising “is the largest first-quarter filing by any non-incumbent Republican candidate in over a decade.
“The figures from the DeSantis campaign and from Never Back Down illustrated the Florida governor’s fundraising prowess as he aims to defeat front-runner and former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination next year,” the Never Back Down Super PAC said in a statement.
“Trump’s team reported on July 5 that the former president’s campaign and Save America, his political action committee, together brought in over $35 million between April and June in the second quarter of political fundraising,” the PAC said.
“DeSantis raised the $20 million fundraising haul in less than half the time, beginning with his campaign launch in late May,” the PAC said.
The nine-figure sum for Never Back Down includes $82.5 million transferred from Mr. DeSantis’s Florida PAC, leftover funds from his 2022 reelection campaign.
Pence on Debates
Despite widespread support for the two leading candidates, fellow GOP candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that he was confident about debating the Republican frontrunners and that he was devoted to the Republican National Committee loyalty pledge.“People ask me all the time: ‘How do you envision debating Donald Trump?’ And I tell them ‘I’ve debated Donald Trump 1,000 times, just never with the cameras on,'” Mr. Pence said. “I’ll be supporting the Republican nominee,” he said. “Especially if it’s me.”
Mr. Pence expressed pride in the close working relationship he had with Mr. Trump for four years, despite their frequent disagreements.
“Some of the candidates for president are criticizing the record of the Trump-Pence administration, I’m proud of the record of the Trump-Pence administration, I’ll defend it everywhere I go,” he said. “But it didn’t mean the president and I always agreed, I know how to have a good policy debate with the president.”
“I’d look forward to it, and I sure do hope he comes to every single one of those debates.”
