Find out the breakdown of the 2024 US presidential campaign funds

In the United States presidential race, President Joe Biden has consistently surpassed his rival Donald Trump in campaign fundraising, but that changed recently with the former president’s campaign fundraising record.

In April, Trump raised more money than Biden for the first time. Trump raised more than $50 million at a donor event in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this month, reported Reuters.

And after hearing the jury’s verdict on Thursday afternoon, which found him guilty of 34 felonies in hush money casethe Trump campaign managed to raise $35 million in less than 24 hours, with a considerable number of donors that even caused the fundraising page to crash.

Typically, campaigns raise money from committees directly affiliated with a political party and from individuals. The Federal Electoral Campaign Law limits the amount of money that political organizations and individuals can contribute to each election.

Candidates must report who has donated, how much money each entity has contributed, and where the funds are spent. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulates financing by maintaining a database of campaign finances.

Campaign spending, on the other hand, is unlimited.

“There are no limits on political spending in the United States. So, under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, no group, or any individual, can be told how much they could spend in politics”. “This means there are no laws limiting political spending,” Ray La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts, said in a briefing with the State Department.

The following breakdown looks at Biden and Trump’s campaign finances during the election campaign.

Fundraising summaries

Biden’s FEC financial summary for the 2024 election, with data spanning Jan. 1, 2021, through April 30, 2024, includes nearly $195 million in revenue. Donald Trump’s financial summary, which includes data from November 15, 2022 to April 30, 2024, has just over $124 million received.

Biden has notably surpassed Trump in contributions from individuals in financial statements. Biden has received $71 million from individuals, while Trump has raised $1 million in individual contributions.

However, Trump has seen greater support for contributions from committees other than his directly affiliated party. While Biden has received just over $60,000 in contributions from other committees, Trump has raised more than $200,000, more than triple what his opponent has received.

A further breakdown of the data shows differences between the two candidates’ chartered committees. Each must give the green light to a specific campaign committee to channel contributions and cover expenses for the candidate. Biden has authorized the Biden for President committee; Trump has nominated Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. The fundraising efforts of each chartered group make up the majority of the financial summaries.

The Biden for President committee, which has been fundraising from January 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, has raised a total of more than $180 million. Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc., has raised a total of about $120 million from January 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024.

campaign expenses

Along with campaign fundraising comes campaign expenses. Since January 1, 2023, Biden has outspent Trump. Biden has racked up nearly $100 million in outlays, while Trump has spent nearly $75 million.

The money goes to various causes. The Trump committee’s most important expenses include media creation, legal consultation and shipping costs. Some recent expenses include ground transportation, such as Uber rides.

The most expensive elements of the Biden committee’s financial footprint appear similar. The committee’s top 10 expenses go to media production and digital consulting. More recently, the committee has been allocating contribution refunds.

With the balance of fundraising and spending, each candidate has some money left in the bank for future projects. Biden, with $84 million in cash on hand, surpasses Trump, who has $49 million.

While Biden has so far generally surpassed Trump in fundraising, both candidates will begin campaigning this American summer, hoping to raise more money before the fall elections.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to the newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.