Harris campaign raises $310m in July as eyes turn to VP pick | US Election 2024 News

July figure is more than double amount raised by Republican nominee Donald Trump as race for White House heats up.

Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign says it raised $310m last month amid a surge in small donations, as the United States vice president’s push for the White House gains momentum.

The July figure includes more than $200m in donations in the week after President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, the campaign said on Friday.

The Democratic Party has rallied around Harris since then, and she is set to officially clinch the nomination as its 2024 presidential candidate in the coming days.

Harris’s campaign also said two-thirds of its July donations came from first-time donors, signalling “tremendous support” for her candidacy.

The sum is more than double the $138.7m raised in July by Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, who is set to face off against Harris in November’s election.

“There has never been anything like the MAGA Movement,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday evening, referring to supporters who rally under his Make America Great Again slogan.

“We raised $139 Million Dollars in July alone. We now have a whopping $327 Million Cash On Hand. Spectacular support from Great American Patriots who are donating to our Campaign for President of the United States, and helping out in many other ways,” he said.

Trump launched ad hominem attacks against Harris this week, including questions about her racial identity that critics slammed as “repulsive”.

The heated rhetoric comes as recent opinion polls suggested a tight race between Trump and Harris as the November 5 election nears, with several swing states expected to be key to who wins the White House.

Harris is also expected to soon announce her vice-presidential running mate, a decision that could provide a boost in those critical battleground states.

Several names have been floated as being on the vice president’s list, including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC’s) newest advertising campaign, launched on Friday, taunted Trump for not committing to a debate with Harris.

The DNC has purchased large ads that dominate the digital homepages of major local newspapers in states where Trump plans to campaign in the coming weeks. The ads say “the convicted felon is afraid to debate” and question whether that is due to his stance on abortion.

Trump in May became the first former president in US history to be convicted of a crime when he was found guilty in a New York hush-money case.

He also previously boasted that he “was able to kill Roe v Wade”, the legal precedent that had guaranteed abortion access nationwide but was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022.

Trump appointed three justices to the top US court during his presidency, giving it a conservative majority.

The DNC said its first ads are running on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s homepage before Trump’s visit to the Georgia state capital on Saturday and the ad campaign will follow him through local news outlets at each rally stop.

Biden dropped out of the race after a disastrous July debate performance against Trump that raised questions about his age and ability to serve another term in office.

Trump has suggested a planned September 10 debate on ABC News should be moved to Fox News.

In a phone call with reporters last week, Trump was asked if he would commit to debating Harris at least once. “Oh, yes, absolutely. I’d want to,” he responded.