President Joe Biden’s campaign outspent former President Donald Trump nearly 6-to-1 in June.
But the massive spending differential helped Trump’s operation extend its cash advantage, underscoring the vastly different financial and political realities of the two campaigns at a key moment in the cycle.
Biden has raised more than Trump, both in June and over the entire cycle, but his campaign has spent massive amounts trying to stay afloat, including tens of millions on advertising in battleground states with little effect in the polls. At the same time, with less than four months until the election, Trump has built up little in-house campaign infrastructure — but he is sitting on a mountain of cash.
New campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission late Saturday showed just how deeply the two campaigns diverge. The latest reports cover through June 30, reflecting the weeks before Biden’s poor debate performance and its immediate aftermath. They predate more recent upheaval, including the assassination attempt against Trump, the Republican National Convention, and a growing chorus of Democrats calling for Biden to withdraw from the race — events that have further cemented Trump’s position while deeply shaking Biden’s.
The reports show the cash differential between Biden and Trump has been driven primarily by spending. After a post-conviction surge helped Trump erase Biden’s cash advantage in May, Trump’s fundraising slowed slightly in June. Biden’s fundraising, meanwhile, picked up — although that trend has not continued into July, with both large- and small-dollar fundraising cratering amid concerns about Biden’s age and ability to stay on the ticket. That slowdown, which won’t be reflected in public filings for another month, has some Democrats hoping a different candidate could energize donors headed into the fall.
Even as Biden put up a strong fundraising month in June, his campaign reported spending a whopping nearly $60 million. Trump’s official campaign committee, by contrast, spent just $10 million in a month, more than two-thirds of which was on direct mail.
All told, the Biden campaign ended June with just shy of $96 million in the bank, while Trump’s campaign reported $128 million left in its campaign account.
Both men also rely on sprawling political operations that include joint fundraising committees and the national parties.
Including those groups, Trump’s entire operation had $281 million in cash at the end of June, compared to $237 million for Biden. The Democratic National Committee also outspent the Republican National Committee in June, $26 million to $19.4 million, with the RNC achieving a cash-on-hand advantage for the first time this cycle after raising a whopping nearly $67 million, compared to $39 million for the DNC.
Trump’s limited spending reflects in large part how much activity his campaign has ceded to outside groups. Dozens of staffers who were on his campaign payroll a few months ago are now paid by the RNC. And super PACs continue to spend heavily to help him, including a new super PAC directed by his allies, America PAC, that is spending millions on paid canvassing.
By far the biggest difference between Trump and Biden has been spending on advertising. While Trump’s campaign has spent little on paid media, Biden’s campaign spent another $48 million on advertising in June, making it easily the campaign’s largest expense category.
The Biden campaign has been spending tens of millions of dollars each month on advertising since March. Yet the massive paid media push has seemed to do little for the incumbent president in public polling.
While Trump’s campaign has not spent significantly on ads, the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. has been running them, mostly in Arizona and Pennsylvania. That group raised another $22 million, with $15 million of that coming from just three sources. Nevada real estate magnate Robert Bigelow and former WWE CEO and Trump administration appointee Linda McMahon each gave $5 million. The PAC also got another $5 million from an affiliate of Reynolds American, the tobacco company, and ended June with $113 million cash on hand.
A pro-Biden super PAC also continued to rake in cash in June. FF PAC raised $32.8 million, with $15 million of that total coming from its nonprofit arm and $5 million from another Democratic super PAC, Democracy PAC. It reported just shy of $122 million cash on hand.
