Biden outraises and outspends Trump in June as questions loom about the

CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden outraised – and dramatically outspent – the campaign of Republican rival Donald Trump last month, new campaign reports filed Saturday show, raising questions about how long the president’s political team can operate at full throttle if donations dry up.

Some of the Democratic Party’s big-dollar donors have raised alarms about Biden’s poor performance at last month’s presidential debate, and he faces growing calls from elected officials to abandon his bid for a second White House term.

Biden’s campaign stepped up its spending in June, the new filings with the Federal Election Commission show, plowing through more than $59 million as it advertised heavily. His principal campaign committee entered July with nearly $96 million remaining in its bank account – a substantial sum but not enough to sustain June’s blistering spending pace for long without fresh cash infusions.

By contrast, Trump’s campaign spent just shy of $10 million, leaving $128 million in its war chest.

The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, raised nearly $67 million in June – one of its strongest fundraising months in recent years, far surpassing the $39.2 million collected by the Democratic National Committee last month – as Trump’s political apparatus built up a cash advantage over Biden and the Democratic Party heading into July and the general election showdown.

Biden’s campaign aides argue that they have capitalized on the fundraising advantage that the president held during the early months of this year to build out a robust ground operation in key battleground states that will help them prevail. And they said the campaign collected $38 million in the four days following Biden’s widely panned debate performance. The reports filed late Saturday, however, include only the final few days of last month after the June 27 faceoff in Atlanta. The full impact of the debate – and other key campaign milestones, including the just-concluded Republican National Convention and the announcement of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as Trump’s running mate – won’t be evident until the campaigns file fundraising and spending details with federal regulators in August.

As CNN has previously reported, some donors – fearing a Republican rout in November should Biden remain atop the ticket – are withholding contributions or putting fundraising events on hold as the president faces pressure from some Democrats to exit the race. One fundraiser that proceeded over the weekend in Cape Cod brought in more $2 million, campaign officials said.

The Saturday event was scheduled weeks before the party’s current turmoil and was headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris, the most likely heir apparent should…