Harris Has $404 Million to Spend as Strong August Fundraising Puts Her Ahead of Trump 

A lawn sign surrounded by American flags in support of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Berkley, Michigan, US, September 5, 2024. (Reuters)
A lawn sign surrounded by American flags in support of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Berkley, Michigan, US, September 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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Harris Has $404 Million to Spend as Strong August Fundraising Puts Her Ahead of Trump 

A lawn sign surrounded by American flags in support of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Berkley, Michigan, US, September 5, 2024. (Reuters)
A lawn sign surrounded by American flags in support of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Berkley, Michigan, US, September 5, 2024. (Reuters)

Kamala Harris's presidential campaign and the Democratic Party raised $361 million in August, leaving her with a clear cash advantage over Republican rival Donald Trump with two months to go before Election Day, the campaign said on Friday.

It said the August haul left Harris with $404 million in cash on hand at the beginning of September.

Trump's campaign team said on Wednesday that it and the Republican Party raised $130 million in August, leaving $295 million cash on hand at the end of the month.

The two candidates will spend more than $1 billion in this campaign, breaking records, according to regulatory filings. Trump and Harris are using the money to run advertisements and build get-out-the-vote operations in the closely contested states that will decide the election.

The fundraising totals, which are reported to US election regulators, are closely watched for signs of momentum ahead of the tightly contested Nov. 5 election.

The totals do not include the money raised by outside groups supporting each candidate.

A key test for both candidates will come at their televised debate on Tuesday, the first since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor on July 21.

Harris' candidacy has re-energized Democrats and donors, and she has had a surge in opinion polls.

Three-quarters of the 1.3 million new donors to Harris in August did not contribute in the last presidential election in 2020, her campaign said. It said more than six in 10 donors in August were women, and nearly one in five were registered Republicans or independents.

Nonetheless, polling averages show it is a tight race in the battleground states that will decide the election, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.



Kremlin Says People Must Judge for Themselves if Putin Really Wants Kamala Harris to Win 

05 September 2024, Russia, Vladivostok: President of Russia Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum. (RIA Novosti/Kremlin/dpa)
05 September 2024, Russia, Vladivostok: President of Russia Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum. (RIA Novosti/Kremlin/dpa)
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Kremlin Says People Must Judge for Themselves if Putin Really Wants Kamala Harris to Win 

05 September 2024, Russia, Vladivostok: President of Russia Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum. (RIA Novosti/Kremlin/dpa)
05 September 2024, Russia, Vladivostok: President of Russia Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum. (RIA Novosti/Kremlin/dpa)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked if President Vladimir Putin's stated support for US presidential candidate Kamala Harris was serious or a joke, said on Friday that people would have to figure it out for themselves.

Putin told an interviewer on Thursday that he preferred Harris over Donald Trump, citing her "infectious" laugh as a reason why she might be less inclined to penalize Russia with sanctions.

He was smiling as he delivered the remark - one of several apparently teasing comments he has made in the course of the US campaign.

Asked if Putin had been serious, Peskov told reporters: "When he is asked about international affairs, he comments on them. As for his tone, people abroad who are interested must try to interpret that."

The White House said on Thursday that Putin should stop commenting on the November election.

Peskov said Putin's priority was Russia's wellbeing, and "American affairs cannot be, and are not, a concern that is at the top of the president's agenda".