Fact Check Team: Harris and Trump leverage major events to boost campaign donations

WASHINGTON (TND) — Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and has received a massive surge in donations.

Harris raised over $200 million in the first week with 66% of those donations coming from first-time donors, according to a post on her campaign's X account.

Former President Donald Trump experienced donation surges too. Trump smashed his campaign records, raising $52.8 million online in the 24 hours right after that guilty verdict for the 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case in May, according to a press release.

Harris surpassed that record, raising $81 million in the first 24 hours of her presidential campaign.

The Federal Election Commission does not have updated fundraising numbers following the July 13 assassination attempt. However, the campaign used the tragedy for its fundraising efforts.

The Trump campaign said they raised $331 million in the second quarter, beating Biden's contributions by nearly $70 million.

Money Matters

Analyses from OpenSecrets, a political money-tracking nonprofit, show fundraising matters but it is not always the determinative factor.

During the 2020 presidential election, the Bidan campaign became the first to raise over $1 billion from donors. Trump's campaign raised $774 million. Notably, over half of his money was from small donors giving $200 or less, which no other presidential candidate had done. Biden's cash advantage helped him put out more campaign ads in the critical swing states which helped him win the presidency.

However, money is not everything. In 2016, the Democratic presidential nominee at the time, Hillary Clinton's campaign raised more than double the amount that Trump did, pulling in almost $500 million to Trump's $248 million. Trump won despite having less money.

Money usually equals victory when it comes to the Congressional races. OpenSecrets shows 93.65% of House races were won by the top spending candidate, and 82.35% of Senate races were won by the top spending candidate in 2022. It is not 100% but money does help at least help win elections.