Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign raked in over $12 million Wednesday after the debate between Vice President Pence and Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), as the former vice president's camp continues to flex its financial muscle.
A Biden campaign official confirmed the single-day total to The Hill, another boost for a campaign that suddenly found itself flush with cash heading into the final sprint to Election Day.
Biden’s most recent fundraising hauls include nearly $10 million in the three hours around his first debate with President Trump on Sept. 29, a date when he also broke his campaign’s single-hour fundraising record. But it was his August haul — when his campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising efforts shattered a single-month record by raising $364.5 million — that established Biden as a late fundraising juggernaut.
Harris, too, has proven to be a fundraising help to the campaign, with Biden’s camp raising $48 million in the 48 hours after she was announced as his running mate.
The opening of the fundraising spigot has helped the former vice president erase what was once a yawning money advantage for Trump and ultimately surpass him in terms of total cash on hand.
Biden’s newly flush campaign has used its donations to blitz the airwaves and the internet with ads placed nationally and in key swing states, outspending the Trump campaign on paid advertising on television and other platforms.
The Biden campaign Wednesday was bolstered by record-breaking web traffic on IWillVote.com, helping produce 18,000 new vote-by-mail applications in the past 24 hours. It also sold 35,000 "Truth Over Flies" fly swatters at $10 each after a fly landed on Pence’s head during Wednesday’s debate, garnering viral internet attention.
While the debates have proven to be fundraising boosts for Biden’s camp, it is unclear how many more chances it will have to take advantage of such opportunities. Two remaining debates, scheduled for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, were thrown into question amid a spat with the Trump campaign over the timing of the events and whether they should be held virtually in light of the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
