Washington DC:

Nearly a week after US President Joe Biden exited the presidential race and endorsed his deputy Kamala Harris as his successor, the Vice President’s campaign has raised USD 200 million, Al Jazeera reported.

The campaign, which announced its latest fundraising total on Sunday, said the bulk of the donations — 66 per cent — came from first-time contributors in the 2024 election cycle.

Additionally, over 1,70,000 volunteers have also signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts.

“The momentum and energy for Vice President Harris is real — and so are the fundamentals of this race: this election will be very close and decided by a small number of voters in just a few states,” Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, wrote in a memo.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s campaign said in early July that it raised USD 331 million in the second quarter, topping the USD 264 million that Biden’s campaign and its Democratic allies raised in the same period.

Trump’s campaign had USD 284.9 million in cash on hand at the end of June, while the Democratic campaign had USD 240 million in cash on hand at the time.

Harris quickly coalesced Democratic support after Biden, whose candidature fizzled following his disastrous June 27 debate performance against Trump, exited the race.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were quick to announce their support.

Prodigious Democratic fundraisers, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, also announced their endorsement on Friday.

The Democratic National Convention next month will, however, decide if Harris will become the party’s nominee, Al Jazeera reported.

Harris, at her fundraiser on Saturday, said she remained the “underdog” in the race but that her campaign was picking up steam.

Her takeover has re-energised a campaign that had faltered badly, as Democrats were left in doubt about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue in the White House if he had won.

Meanwhile, in his campaign appearance in St Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday, Trump called Harris a “crazy liberal,” accused her of wanting to “defund the police,” and said she was an “absolute radical” on abortion.

As 100 days are left until the elections, polls over the past week have shown Harris and Trump essentially tied, setting the stage for a close-fought campaign, Al Jazeera reported.

On Sunday, Mitch Landrieu, a campaign co-chair, said on MSNBC that Harris “had one of the best weeks that we’ve seen in politics in the last 50 years.”

“This is going to be a very close race,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, on July 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Kamala Harris is smashing fundraising records as the U.S. Democratic Party’s donors — big and small — open their wallets for the vice president in the immediate aftermath of U.S. President Joe Biden’s stunning decision to step aside.

In total, Ms. Harris’ team raised more than $81 million in the 24-hour period since Mr. Biden’s announcement, campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said Monday.

The massive haul, which includes money raised across the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees, represents the largest 24-hour sum reported by either side in the 2024 campaign. Ms. Harris’ campaign said it was the largest single-day total in U.S. history.

ALSO READ: Editorial on Joe Biden bowing out of the presidential race

“The historic outpouring of support for Vice President Harris represents exactly the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections,” Mr. Munoz said.

Hours earlier, Future Forward, the largest super PAC in Democratic politics, announced it had secured $150 million in commitments over the same period from donors who were “previously stalled, uncertain or uncommitted,” a senior adviser said.

Taken together, the fundraising explosion puts Ms. Harris in a dominant position to secure the Democratic Party’s formal presidential nomination at next month’s national convention — if not sooner. The donor class’s embrace comes as she locks up endorsements from the vast majority of Democratic governors and members of Congress.

The huge haul also ensures that Ms. Harris and her allies can compete with Donald Trump, who has generated stunning fundraising totals of his own in recent weeks as he fights to return to the White House.

“This is the next generation people have been waiting for,” Michael Kempner, a member of Biden’s national finance team, said of Ms. Harris’ emergence. “The donors I’ve spoken to are enthusiastic about supporting her. And even those that may have preferred an open convention have quickly coalesced around her overnight.”

Harris’ initial 24-hour fundraising total easily bested the $50 million Trump raised immediately after felony convictions and the $38 million Mr. Biden secured over the four days that followed last month’s disastrous debate performance. The Trump campaign has not said how much it raised immediately after last weekend’s assassination attempt; a spokesman didn’t respond to a request Monday.