Joe Biden is fundraising off his campaign’s lack of cash on hand for the Democratic presidential primary race as his team continues to burn through more money than it brings in.
“I hate to say it, but our opponents are way ahead of us when it comes to money in the bank,” Elana Firsht, Biden’s online fundraising director, said in a Friday email appeal to supporters. “If we don’t pick up the pace here, we might have to make budget cuts that could seriously hurt our momentum in this primary.”
A recent analysis by the Washington Examiner found that the former vice president’s cash burn rate was 30% higher than his top rivals, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Biden, 76, brought in $15.7 million in the third quarter of the campaign but spent $17.6 million. His campaign had less money on hand at the end of last month than the rest of his top four rivals in the 2020 primary.
The Biden campaign said earlier this week that it thought its spending was sustainable.
“I think at the end of the day, decisions about money — it’s more important how you spend the money than how you raise it. We have the resources that we need to continue to run our race. We’ve always said we think that this race is going to be a dogfight, and it’s going to go long,” spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said after Tuesday’s Democratic debate.
President Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $125 million combined in the third quarter of fundraising, almost eight times as much as Biden’s haul.
