Biden raises $10 million in 24 hours after his State of the Union speech

[March 11, 2024]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's re-election campaign said on Sunday it raised $10 million in the 24 hours following a fiery State of the Union address, where he accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy and torpedoing a bill to tackle U.S. immigration woes.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024./File Photo

In a 68-minute address to Congress on Thursday, Biden also charged Trump, his Republican challenger in the Nov. 5 election, with burying the truth about the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The fundraising haul is notable given the Biden campaign and his Democratic Party allies raised over $42 million in the entire month of January.

An estimated 32.2 million people watched Biden's State of the Union speech, according to Nielsen ratings from 14 television networks, an increase of 18% from last year. This did not include viewers on streaming, social media and other platforms.

Leaning into its cash edge, the Biden campaign on Saturday announced a $30 million ad blitz, which will target key battleground states over the next six weeks.

Biden and Trump remain neck-and-neck in the contest for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll in February showed, with the former president backed by 37% of respondents and Biden supported by 34%.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, editing by Deepa Babington)

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