Eyes on 2024: Digging into Biden’s fundraising

On Monday, we delved into what the latest fundraising reports revealed about the GOP presidential primary. But Biden’s latest filing is also worth exploring, since it provides a look under the hood of his campaign as he gears up for the general election.

Biden’s campaign raised nearly $24.8 million from July through September, a boost from the second fundraising quarter, when he raised less than $20 million. The Biden team contends that Biden’s total haul is closer to $71 million, combining the funds raised by not just Biden’s campaign but other fundraising arms and the Democratic National Committee. 

But just looking at Biden’s campaign, his haul includes $3.7 million in un-itemized donations, or contributions of $200 or less — a decrease from the nearly $5.4 million in un-itemized donations from the second quarter. Biden’s campaign did bring in scores of small-dollar donations not included in that sum through his joint fundraising committee, Biden Victory Fund. 

Although those small-dollar donations are not itemized, the filing does provide some clues about Biden’s online fundraising via spending on service fees for online fundraising platforms. For example, Biden’s campaign saw payments in fees to ActBlue, the main Democratic online fundraising platform, spike at the end of August, shortly after the first GOP debate and Trump’s arrest in Georgia.

The filing also shows that Biden’s campaign has staffed up in recent months. After ending the second quarter with just four staffers on the payroll, the number of paid staff rose to 17 in July and 38 in September.

Biden’s campaign spent the most money — $7.5 million — on media buys as it hit the airwaves earlier than other recent incumbents. That’s more than the GOP candidates spent on ad buys in the third quarter, as they have largely left the airwaves to super PACs. 

And the Biden campaign has millions more to spend, ending the quarter on Sept. 30 with $32.2 million in its account. 

In other campaign news … 

Don’t talk about it: A federal judge issued a partial gag order on Monday, barring Trump from discussing potential witnesses and criticizing specific prosecutors and court staff in the election interference case. 

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

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Reviving travel bans: Trump said during a campaign event on Monday that he would “expand” bans on refugees from certain countries if elected, vowing not to allow refugees “from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security” into the country, per NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard, Jake Traylor and Alex Tabet.

DeSantis weighs in: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke with NBC’s Dasha Burns after evacuees from Israel landed in Florida, drawing a sharp contrast with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who pushed back on DeSantis’ recent comments that all Palestinians in Gaza are “antisemitic.” DeSantis accused Haley of “trying to be politically correct.”

Nevada gamble: Possible confusion awaits GOP voters in Nevada, as the state GOP holds its presidential caucus even as the state holds a primary, NBC’s Natasha Korecki reports.

“Converts welcome”: That was part of the Biden campaign’s first post on Truth Social, a conservative social media site started by Trump, which the president’s campaign joined on Monday.

Senate Democrats stockpile campaign cash: That’s one of the big takeaways from Senate campaign fundraising reports filed over the weekend, as Senate Democrats ended September with more cash on hand than their Republican challengers. But, NBC’s Henry Gomez reports that wealthy, self-funding GOP candidates could be the key to Republican victories in battleground states.

A tough spot: NBC’s Sahil Kapur reports that the 18 GOP House lawmakers who represent districts Biden won in 2020 are in a tough spot as they decide whether or not to support conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for House speaker.

On the stage: NBC News will host the third Republican primary debate on Nov. 8 in Miami.