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Joe Biden raised more than $42m in January, giving him a record $130mn war chest despite concerns about his age and weak polling numbers ahead of November's US presidential election.
Biden's campaign says his reserves are more than any Democratic candidate has accumulated so far in the election cycle, and his political action groups' coffers are being drained by his legal fees, compared to Donald Trump's fundraising efforts.
“January's fundraising — driven by a powerhouse grassroots fundraising program and continuing to grow month over month — shows an undeniable strength to kick off the election year,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
Trump has not released his January fundraising figures, but groups supporting his run for the White House revealed $66m in cash by the end of 2023, compared to Biden's $118mn at the time. The difference — $52 million — equals Trump's legal costs.
After describing the 81-year-old president as a “well-intentioned old man,” Biden's fundraising prowess comes amid renewed scrutiny of his age and fitness for a tough re-election bid. Bad memory.”
Alarms surrounding Biden's age have reached some of his donors and liberal supporters in the press. Prominent New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein recently published an op-ed praising Biden for his legislative record but calling for his ouster.
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Trump, who is four years younger than Biden, faces multiple civil and criminal lawsuits — and a rapidly growing legal bill. Last week, a New York judge ordered the former president to pay $355 million in fines for widespread fraud and barred him from certain business operations in the state. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has accused Trump of mishandling classified documents and, in a separate case, conspiring to disrupt the 2020 election. Trump has denied all the allegations.
But the former president is a clear front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and polled narrowly ahead of Biden in key swing states like Wisconsin.
Biden communications adviser TJ Ducklo said January's cash transfer will “go directly to the voters who will decide this election.”
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