Kamala Harris raises £156m as Biden exits presidential race
28 July 2024 17:39
The campaign team for Kamala Harris announced on Sunday that since the current U.S. Vice President became the likely Democratic Party candidate in the November presidential election, £156 million has been raised for her bid for the White House.
"In the week since we started, Kamala Harris raised £156 million. 66 per cent of this amount comes from new donors. We also have 170,000 new volunteers," wrote Harris's deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, on platform X.
At the start of July, the campaign team for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced that it had amassed £258 million, of which £222 million was in cash. By the end of June, Joe Biden's campaign had £75 million in its account.
Harris has gained the support of the majority of delegates for the Democratic National Convention, which will likely secure her the party’s nomination for President next month. "Our Vice President is the likely candidate. The official vote will take place on 1 August," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison on Sunday to MSNBC.
Mitch Landrieu, the co-chair of Harris's campaign, told MSNBC that the U.S. Vice President "had one of the best weeks we've seen in politics in the last 50 years." He emphasised that the race to the White House will be very tight.
Joe Biden withdraws
Joe Biden announced on Sunday, 21 July, that he is withdrawing from the race for President of the United States. In a statement he posted on social media, he clearly indicated who, in his opinion, should take up the mantle. However, such a nomination by Biden is not enough for Kamala Harris to immediately become the Democratic Party's candidate. She must be supported by the delegates.
When on Sunday Joe Biden announced his support for his vice president's candidacy in the November elections, money from donors began to flow almost immediately.
As reported by Bloomberg, the donations made only on 21 July on ActBlue, the platform for raising funds for the Democratic campaign, exceeded £39 million.
