Money, Money, Money

In 1973, the O'Jays recorded a hit song that has a lot to do with presidential politics in 2024. Indeed, this past week has been all about money for both President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump.

On the Trump side of the money ledger, on Monday of this week he posted a $175 million dollar appeal bond in connection with the nearly half billion-dollar civil judgement handed down against him in a New York City courtroom last month. The posting of that bond prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing the former president's assets in New York, which would include Trump Tower, the site of his residence in the city. Trump will now be able to appeal the ruling of trial judge Arthur Engeron.

On the Biden side of the ledger it is all good news. Biden has an enormous lead in fundraising and that lead continues to grow. FOX News's Lucas Tomlinson reports.

The latest fundraising numbers are in from February and show a sizable advantage for President Biden $53 million to $20 million. Of course, Trump was also behind Hillary Clinton in the fundraising department in 2016, and that didn't stop him from winning. Of course, he lost four years ago. Here we are now with the first presidential rematch since Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956. Now, despite Biden telling voters they are better off, a new FOX News poll says otherwise. Over 50% of people say they are worse off today. Only 22% say they're better off and 26% say they're about the same financially.”

President Biden widened that money lead last Thursday. At a sold-out event at Radio City Music Hall in New York that featured former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the campaign raised a reported $26 million, a record amount for a single fundraising event in presidential politics. During that event, the president got in this dig against his rival:

I mean, all the things he's doing are so old…speaking of old.”

On the same day of that big fundraiser, former president Trump was 27 miles away as the crow flies, attending the wake for NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed by a repeat offender who was free under New York's lax bail laws. Mr. Trump visited personally with Officer Diller's widow and said this afterward:

Stephanie was just incredible. That child, brand new, beautiful baby sitting there, innocent as can be, that doesn't know how his life has been changed.”

Though President Biden currently holds a big money lead over Donald Trump, the former president is holding a significant polling lead. According to a just-released Wall Street Journal poll, with 216 days to go until Election Day, the former president is now leading in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In all but Georgia, that polling lead is greater than the margin of error.