Biden pulls in $6.2 million for his reelection bid at Miami fundraiser
President Joe Biden raised more than $6 million for his reelection campaign and its allies during a high-dollar fundraiser in Pinecrest on Tuesday evening.
The total — a staggering amount of money for a single fundraiser — was announced in the midst of the reception by attorney Chris Korge, a longtime Democratic donor who hosted the fundraiser at his Pinecrest home.
“This event is breaking all records from a fundraising point of view,” said Korge, the national finance chair of the Biden Victory Fund, the joint fundraising apparatus committee by the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties.
RELATED: Biden’s top fundraisers are hosting him in Miami, saying Florida is ‘still in play’
The Pinecrest fundraiser was Biden’s second reception in South Florida on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, he swung through a similar event in Jupiter, though a spokesperson for his campaign declined to say how much was raised at that fundraiser.
Biden will add the money he raised Tuesday to an already-huge war chest for the president and his allies. Biden’s campaign and affiliated fundraising committees pulled in $97 million in the last three months of 2023 and entered the new year with $117 million in cash on hand, his team announced earlier this month.
The Tuesday fundraising haul marked a rare dose of good news out of Florida for Biden and Democrats, who have struggled to win elections in the state in recent years. Carrying Florida may still prove a difficult task for the president in November, but the state remains a bastion for deep-pocketed political donors whom Biden needs to help fuel his campaign.
His trip to Florida on Tuesday also put him face-to-face with some of his most important allies in the Sunshine State. When he arrived at Miami International Airport, he was greeted on the runway by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried also attended the fundraiser at Korge’s home.
Biden sounded bullish on Tuesday as he spoke to donors in Jupiter, about 30 minutes north of Palm Beach, telling them that he is confident that their support would make former President Donald Trump, his likely Republican rival in the November election, a “loser again.”
He also insisted that he’s not willing to give up on competing in Florida, despite a tough several years for Democrats in the state. Trump carried it in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection in 2022 by a landslide.
“Here in Florida, you’ve had a real dose of Trumpism,” Biden said. “Here in Florida, we have to organize, mobilize the vote. I think we can win Florida. I think the Democrats can win in Florida.”
Hours later, in Pinecrest, Biden delivered a blistering criticism of Trump, signaling how the president is already eyeing the November general election campaign despite the ongoing Republican presidential primary.
What’s more, it was a chance to hit Trump on his home turf. The former president is a Palm Beach resident and his private jet was parked nearby when Air Force One landed in West Palm Beach on Tuesday afternoon.
“You’re the reason I’m president of the United States,” Biden told supporters in Pinecrest. “You’re the reason Donald Trump is the defeated former president. You’re the reason we’re going to continue to make him a loser again.”
Miami Herald staff writer Alyssa Johnson contributed to this report.
