Kamala Harris campaign raises $310 million in July, twice as much as Donald Trump in the same month

While financing plays a vital role in American campaigns, Republican candidate Donald Trump’s team announced on Thursday that it had raised $138.7 million (€127 million) in July.

Kamala Harris’ campaign team announced on Friday, August 2, that it had raised $310 million. (284 million euros) in July, more than double the amount raised by Donald Trump during the same period, an amount largely raked in since the vice president replaced Joe Biden in the November election.

While funding plays an essential role in American campaigns, often with astronomical amounts, the new Democratic candidate had collected 200 million dollars (183 million euros) in less than a week, after Joe Biden withdrew on July 21, donors disenchanted with the aging president making their comeback.

Kamala Harris’ team has “raised $310 million in July, the largest fundraiser for the 2024 election,” she announced in a press release. This fundraising was “fueled by the best month of fundraising from small donors in presidential history” American, and represents “more than double” of what Donald Trump’s campaign raised in the same month, she said.

The Republican candidate’s team announced in a press release on Thursday that it had raised $138.7 million (127 million euros) in July, a substantial sum raked in the month Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and received a triumphant endorsement at the Republican convention.

The staggering sums of money spent on American presidential campaigns are largely spent on expensive clips promoting the candidates’ records and promises. The Internet and television channels are flooded with them in the months leading up to the election.

The NGO Open Secrets, which specializes in political financing, estimates that the 2024 election could be the most expensive in American history, surpassing the record of 5.7 billion dollars (around 5.2 billion euros) spent for that of 2020. By comparison, French law limits to 22.5 million euros the campaign expenses of each candidate present in the second round of the presidential election in France.