Obama, Biden Reunion Fundraiser Raises $7.6M

Barack Obama and Joe Biden reunited Tuesday for their first joint appearance of the 2020 presidential campaign, hosting a virtual fundraiser that Biden said brought in $7.6 million.

More than 175,000 people bought tickets, priced between $15 and $1,000, the campaign said. It’s the first time the former president has raised money for Biden and just his second public appearance on his former vice president’s behalf. He released an endorsement video in April after Biden’s opponents dropped out of the Democratic primary race.

The $7.6 million haul is the largest of Biden’s presidential bid. An event last week with Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren raised $6 million.

Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill said earlier Tuesday that Obama will also campaign and raise money for other Democrats because “he believes this November’s election -- the most consequential in our lifetimes -- is too important for anyone to sit out.”

“This is somebody who’s been struck by tragedy,” Obama said of Biden, and that has “enlarged his heart.” Throughout his career, Obama said Biden has shown “he’s in it for the right reasons.”

Biden struggled to raise money during the Democratic primary but has begun attracting small and large donors since becoming the party’s nominee. Fundraising surged in May, when his campaign, the Democratic National Committee and allied fundraising vehicles took in $80.8 million, a record for Biden’s campaign, which beat the $74 million that President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee raised last month.