Exclusive: DNC raises $15.4 million online during President Biden's first 100 days
02 May 2021
The Democratic National Committee raised $15.4 million online during President Biden's first 100 days, beating its fundraising during either President Obama or President Trump's first 100 days, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The haul suggests the Democrats' stellar small-dollar numbers last year weren't solely dependent on opposition to Trump, as many in the party feared. The average donation was $23.
- During the start of Barack Obama's first term, the party raised $427,000; when Donald Trump kicked off his lone term, the DNC raised $4.7 million.
Between the lines: Two of the DNC’s top 10 fundraising days came last week when Biden gave his address to a joint session of Congress and when he campaigned in Georgia.
- During the president's nationally televised speech on Wednesday, the DNC raised six times more online from 8pm to 12am ET than it did the previous night. It also brought in contributions from all 50 states.
- "Organic online contributions were up over 700% from the previous day before the speech," a DNC spokesperson told Axios.
The other side: The Republican National Committee also posted huge grassroots fundraising numbers during the first quarter of this year.
- It raised nearly $22 million from contributions of under $200 from January to the end of March, according to its filings with the Federal Election Commission.
- It's not clear how much of that haul came online or exactly what portion came in after Biden took office. But it shows how substantial small-dollar fundraising has been for both parties.
The big picture: The DNC saw a 60% increase in the number of donors who gave in the first 100 days of Biden's presidency, compared to the first 100 days of Trump's.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.