According to sources familiar with the matter, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a generous donation of nearly $20 million to support the reelection of President Joe Biden. This donation comes at a crucial time as President Biden’s fundraising efforts have been falling behind those of his rival, Donald Trump.
Bloomberg, who previously ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, gave the maximum donation of $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund. Additionally, he has donated $19 million to the FF PAC, also known as Future Forward, which is the main super PAC working to promote Biden’s reelection bid.
Future Forward, which has the support of the president’s top aides, has already reserved $250 million for television and digital advertising in battleground states from the Democratic Convention in August through Election Day.
The Washington Post was the first to report on Bloomberg’s donations. In the 2020 campaign, Bloomberg heavily invested in supporting Biden in Florida, a state that ultimately went to Trump.
On the other hand, Trump received a significant fundraising boost in May with a $50 million contribution to a super PAC backing his campaign from Timothy Mellon, an heir to a banking fortune. This donation accounted for the majority of the $68.8 million that the group reported raising in May.
Mellon has now donated a total of $100 million to super PACs associated with presidential candidates, making him one of the biggest financial figures of the 2024 campaign.
Bloomberg, known for his moderate vision and problem-solving approach, endorsed Biden after ending his own presidential campaign. He emphasized that his goal was to defeat Donald Trump and he saw Biden as the best candidate to do so.
Despite holding a financial advantage over Trump for most of the campaign cycle, Biden’s fundraising has fallen behind in the past two months. Biden and the Democratic Party announced that they raised $85 million in May, compared to Trump’s reported $141 million. Trump’s fundraising was boosted by donations following his May 30 conviction in a New York criminal case.
As of May 31, Biden’s campaign had a cash stockpile of $212 million, while Trump’s main committee had $116.5 million in cash reserves. This was a significant shift from the previous month, when Biden had a $35 million cash advantage.
Contributors to this report include CNN’s Fredreka Schouten, David Wright, and Alex Leeds Matthews.
