Biden at advantage in swing states as Trump loses cash on legal cases

Joe Biden is at an advantage as he sends hundreds of staff to the main battlegrounds, his rival’s campaign admits.

Joe Biden campaigns in Madison in the swing state of Wisconsin. Picture: AFP

Staff on Donald Trump’s campaign have revealed the dire state of the former president’s ground operation as President Joe Biden ploughs money into the battleground states set to decide the race for the White House.

Flush with cash after another fundraising haul in March, the Biden campaign has expanded recruitment and launched a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz in the swing states. The President’s team now boasts 300 paid staff and 100 campaign offices in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

By contrast, hampered by Mr Trump’s financial troubles as millions of dollars in campaign funds are channelled into covering his legal fees, the former president’s ground operation is only just getting under way.

Republicans told NBC News the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee had only five full-time staff between them in each of the swing states. The Trump campaign hired state directors in Pennsylvania and Michigan last week, while Mr Biden has been building his team on the ground in both states since February.

Republicans are worried Mr Trump’s 2024 operation is falling behind his previous presidential campaign. By this stage of the race four years ago he already had a visible ground game under way in the swing states, with regional directors and organisers recruiting an army of volunteers.

“This is like comparing a Maserati to a Honda – 2020 had staff and the bodies in place to turn out the vote,” one unnamed Republican told NBC. “This current iteration is starting from ground zero, and we’re seven months out from the election. It makes no sense and puts them at a huge disadvantage to Biden, who is staffing up in droves.”

Mr Biden extended his financial advantage over Mr Trump in March, raising more than $US90m ($138m), while his rival amassed $US66m. The Biden campaign said it has $US192m in ready cash to spend, more than double Mr Trump’s $US93m.

In a dig at the former president, Mr Biden’s team noted the $US100m gulf between the two war chests matched the estimated cost of Mr Trump’s legal bills since he left office in 2021.

“The money we are raising is ... going to the critical work of building a winning operation, focused solely on the voters who will decide this election,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Mr Biden’s campaign manager, said last weekend. “It’s a stark contrast to Trump’s cash-strapped operation that is funnelling the limited … funds it has to pay off his various legal fees.”

Mr Biden faces troubles of his own, however. The 81-year-old is dogged by low approval ratings – his net rating is at minus 16 percentage points –- and persistent doubts about his age and fitness for a second term. Opinion polls consistently show weakening support for him among black, Latino and young voters. Despite his superiority in fundraising and early ground game, a Wall Street Journal poll last week showed Mr Biden trailing Mr Trump by up to eight points in the six swing states that decided the 2020 race.

The Times