The 2024 campaign cycle is experiencing shockwaves as a result of former President Donald Trump’s weekend fundraiser, which raised roughly twice as much money as President Joe Biden’s record-breaking haul earlier this month.

After several GOP billionaire donors, some of whom were previously backing other Republican presidential contenders, rallied to support the 45th president, Trump managed to raise $50.5 million in West Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday night, doubling Biden’s $26 million take the previous weekend.

Trump’s fundraising event broke “every fundraising record in history for a Republican or Democrat,” according to a Republican National Committee press release.

“Tonight will be an incredible night for President Trump and the Republican Party, raising an astounding $50.5 million,” Trump campaign senior advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, after locking up the nomination in one of the fastest primaries in modern political history, Donald J. Trump is winning poll after poll and proving that the enthusiasm is on his side. It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,” the advisors added.

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The Trump campaign, the RNC, and affiliated joint fundraising committees raised $65.6 million in March and ended the month with $93.1 million on hand.

“The success of tonight’s event is proving what we already know: Americans are fed up with Biden’s record of failure, from the open southern border and sky-high inflation to the migrant crime crisis that has made everyone less safe,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a statement. “The Republican Party is united behind the effort to elect President Donald J. Trump, and Americans are lining up to join our movement and retire Crooked Joe Biden once and for all.”

BREAKING: President Trump will raise over $50.5 million tonight — smashing every fundraising record in the book.

It took three presidents to raise just $25 million at Biden’s ritzy NYC fundraiser last month. pic.twitter.com/U71nbonraR

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 6, 2024

Former First Lady Melania Trump was thrilled with the event and, on her way into the fundraiser, said, “This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people want to contribute to a cause of making America great again.”

The event showed that the donors, some of whom had been supporting Florida Gov. Ron De Santis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, are starting to get behind the former president.

The Epoch Times reported that Warren Stephens, one of the megadonors who backed Haley, was named a co-chair of the event.

“According to Federal Election Commission records, Warren Stephens and his wife, Harriet Stephens, gave $2 million to a hybrid political action committee—SFA Fund Inc.—to support Ms. Haley’s candidacy in 2023,” the report said.

“In January 2024, Warren Stephens, Harriett Stephens, and Laura Stephens, a senior marketing communication manager at Stephens Inc., sent a collective $1 million to SFA Fund,” it said.

The top donation at the event was “Chairman Level,” which was priced at $824,600 and allowed the donor to be seated at the same table as the former president.

“Now that President Trump won the primaries, defeating all 10 contenders by a landslide, I think it’s time for Republicans to unite behind him,” Paulsen said to Bloomberg. “For that reason, I’m hosting this inaugural event to galvanize the broad support there is for the president.”

Biden’s campaign announced on Saturday that it raised $90 million in March, and had $192 million cash on hand at the beginning of April, which is more than double the Republicans’ amount.

According to the RealClearPolitics averages, Trump maintains a narrow lead over Biden in both national and battleground state polling. The only swing state where Biden is currently ahead of Trump is Pennsylvania, where the president holds a 0.1-point lead.

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