Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a significant contribution to President Biden's re-election campaign, donating $19 million to a super PAC supporting his bid. The move comes as conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon has given a staggering $50 million to a super PAC backing former President Trump's run for the White House.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has made a major contribution to President Biden's re-election campaign, donating $19 million to a super PAC supporting his bid. The move comes as conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon has given a staggering $50 million to a super PAC backing former President Trump's run for the White House.
Bloomberg, a one-time Republican turned independent turned Democrat, wrote a massive $19 million check to the Future Forward PAC (FF PAC), which is the leading super PAC supporting Biden's bid for a second term in the White House. Bloomberg also gave the maximum donation of $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a fundraising committee that benefits the president's re-election campaign and various Democratic Party committees.
Billionaire Bloomberg Boosts Biden with $20 Million Donation, as Trump's PAC Receives $50 Million from Mellon
"I stood with Joe Biden in 2020, and I am proud to do so again," Bloomberg said in a statement to the Washington Post.
Bloomberg spent a staggering $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 Democratic presidential nomination bid. After he dropped out of the race, he transferred roughly $18 million to the Democratic Party and announced the funding of a $100 million independent ad campaign to boost Biden's White House bid.
Billionaire Bloomberg Boosts Biden with $20 Million Donation, as Trump's PAC Receives $50 Million from Mellon
At 82, Bloomberg is a year older than Biden and is the 15th wealthiest person in the world, with approximately $106 billion in assets.
Mellon's $50 million contribution to Make America Great Again (MAGA) Inc. came the day after Trump was convicted of all 34 felony counts in his criminal trial, making him the first former or current president in American history to face such a verdict.
Billionaire Bloomberg Boosts Biden with $20 Million Donation, as Trump's PAC Receives $50 Million from Mellon
According to a federal disclosure filing, MAGA Inc. raised over $68 million in fundraising last month, with most of the money coming from Mellon and another $10 million from the conservative mega donors Dick and Liz Uihlein.
The super PAC announced a few days after the Mellon donation that they were reserving $100 million in ad reservations to run spots this summer in support of Trump.
Billionaire Bloomberg Boosts Biden with $20 Million Donation, as Trump's PAC Receives $50 Million from Mellon
The latest contribution from Mellon follows a previous $25 million donation earlier this cycle to MAGA Inc. Mellon also contributed roughly the same amount to American Values, the main super PAC supporting Democrat turned independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign.
The Bloomberg and Mellon news came as the Biden campaign announced that they and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $85 million in May, their second-best month of fundraising this election cycle. However, the money raised by Biden and the DNC is far short of the staggering haul raised by Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee last month.
The Trump campaign announced two and a half weeks ago that they and the RNC combined hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May, up from $76 million raised in April.
Fundraising is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach, get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel, and ads, among other things.
The latest fundraising figures suggest that both Biden and Trump are entering the general election campaign with significant financial resources. However, Trump's recent convictions in his criminal trial could complicate his fundraising efforts in the months leading up to the election.
