Sources close to Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign told NBC News that she raised over $300 million in the month of August, more than twice as much as former President Donald Trump's haul, an indication that the enthusiasm around her candidacy and the flood of fundraising cash shows little sign of abating.
Harris has been raking in huge amounts of money after President Joe Biden dropped out on July 21 and endorsed her as his successor. After the Democratic National Convention, Harris campaign officials announced that they had raised $540 million since she joined the race. The exact amount of money raised in August should be revealed in the next campaign finance disclosure, which is due Sept. 20.
A Los Angeles Times analysis of the last finance disclosure on August 20, almost exactly a month into Harris' fledgling candidacy, found that about 70% of her donors, about 1.5 million people, did not previously donate to Biden's campaign, underscoring Harris' ability to reach new voters.
All that cash will give Harris a boost in a fall election firefight across the battleground states. Some Democrats, however, are worried that Harris' money flood is overshadowing tepid fundraising by down-ballot candidates and committees focused on state legislative races, and it's unclear how long her coattails are.
Trump's campaign reported that it and related entities raised $130 million in August, with 98% of the money coming from small donors who contribute less than $200.
“These fundraising numbers from August are a reflection of that movement and will propel President Trump’s America First movement back to the White House so we can undo the terrible failures of Harris and Biden,” Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes told NBC. The numbers reported by either Trump or Harris' campaign don't account for Super PACs, which unlike candidates can accept unlimited cash donations from the nation's wealthiest donors.
