Biden Tops Trump in June Fundraising   07/02 06:29

   

   ATLANTA (AP) -- Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden outpaced 
President Donald Trump's campaign fundraising juggernaut in June and in the 
second quarter of this election year, continuing a stunning reversal of fortune 
from his threadbare primary campaign.

   The joint GOP effort still has considerably more cash left to spend ahead of 
the Nov. 3 election, but Biden's newfound fundraising muscle suggests Democrats 
will have the resources to finance a strong operation across a wide footprint 
of battleground states.

   The former vice president's spokesman said Tuesday night that Biden and the 
Democratic National Committee raised $141 million in June, bringing their 
second-quarter total to more than $282 million.

   Republicans announced earlier Tuesday that Trump and the national GOP had 
raised $131 million in June and $266 million for the quarter. The president's 
reelection effort still had nearly $300 million cash on hand at the end of 
June, the campaign said.

   Biden's campaign has not yet disclosed its cash-on-hand figure, though it 
will be well behind Trump's figure. At the end of May, Democrats had about $122 
million.

   Top Biden aides and allies have downplayed that gap in recent weeks, noting 
that Trump already has spent lavishly on advertising and voter outreach, yet 
still finds himself trailing Biden in national and many battleground state 
polls.

   Still, the Trump campaign's deep pockets have allowed the president a head 
start on everything from reserving television advertising months from now to 
building a sophisticated data operation to target his supporters online.