Just days after Vice President Kamala Harris was endorsed by President Joe Biden to replace him as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Harris’ campaign has broken fundraising records, raising a staggering $US81 million in the first 24 hours.
ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, revealed that as of Sunday night, grassroots supporters had raised a total of $US46.7 million following Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch.
“This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle,” ActBlue wrote on X. “Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election.”
The New York Times confirmed this statement, saying that Sunday marked the single biggest day for online Democratic donations since the 2020 election. Comparatively, in his first quarter of fundraising since launching his reelection bid in April, President Joe Biden raised $US72 million.
Since President Biden stepped down and endorsed his Vice President over the weekend, over 28,000 people have already signed up to volunteer for the campaign.
The spokesperson for ‘Harris for President’ campaign, Kevin Munoz said, “The historic outpouring of support for Vice President Harris represents exactly the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections.”
“Already, we are seeing a broad and diverse coalition come together to support our critical work of talking to the voters that will decide this election,” he told reporters.
Despite this surge in fund-raising, Donald Trump’s Republican aligned allies have consistently raised more money than Biden’s groups. According to the Financial Times, for the current election cycle to the end of June, Biden groups have raised roughly $US11 million less than the Trump campaign.
Meanwhile, Harris has received a number of high profile endorsements, including from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said on Monday that the Vice President is the best individual to defeat Trump in November.
In a statement, Pelosi wrote: “It is with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future that I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president of the United States. My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for president is official, personal and political.”
Other influential Democrats have endorsed her, including former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, her husband former president Bill Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Support for Harris also came in from Hollywood, including singer songwriter John Legend, director Spike Lee, actor Mark Hamill, Rosie O’Donnell and Alyssa Milano.
Barbra Streisand lent her support by providing a statement to the New York Times, saying she was “so excited to support Kamala Harris.”
“She will work to restore women’s reproductive freedom and continue with the accomplishments begun in the Biden-Harris administration,” Streisand wrote.
Oscar winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis also weighted in, posting on her socials: “Numbers too big to ignore! Women. Minorities. LGBTQ+IA. We still have a CHOICE with Kamala Harris. TRUSTED. TESTED. TOUGH.”
Former President Barack Obama has not endorsed Harris, saying on Sunday: “We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
On Monday night, Harris made her first speech as a candidate for the Democratic nomination at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, saying that her campaign won’t focus on an “us versus Donald Trump” mentality.
The 59-year old said she and Trump have “two different visions of the future of our country,” adding that the Republican nominee wants “to take our country backward to a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights.”
“Do we believe in freedom?” she told the meeting of staff members. “Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America? And are we willing to fight for it?”
Reflecting on her career as a prosecutor, Harris said she had taken on “perpetrators of all kinds — Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”
During her speech, Harris also spoke about abortion, vowing to sign a federal law that would codify reproductive rights if Congress passes one.
“The government should not be telling a woman what do with her body,” she said.
President Biden, who was diagnosed with COVID last week, called into Harris’ meeting, saying: “I’m hoping you’ll give every bit of your heart and soul that you gave to me to Kamala.”
President Biden’s campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon will stay on to run Harris’ bid to be the next US president, while Julie Chavez Rodriguez continues to serve as the campaign manager.
This morning, the Democratic Party announced it will choose its presidential nominee in an online vote by August 7, though a voting date has not yet been scheduled.