(CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden and aligned Democratic committees maintained a substantial cash advantage of more than $107 million over President Donald Trump and his political operation in the final weeks of the campaign, according to a new round of filings that capture last-minute fundraising and spending.And the reports show Biden outspending the President in the campaign’s homestretch: Biden’s campaign alone brought in $130 million during the first two weeks of October and spent more than $145 million. That’s a spending rate of more than $10 million a day over the two-week period.
Trump, by comparison, raised nearly $43.6 million between October 1 and October 14 and spent $63.1 million, according to filings Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission.The President’s political operation has struggled to compete financially with Biden in recent months, and Trump has headed to high-dollar fundraising events to shore up his cash position in the waning days of the presidential campaign.On Thursday — just hours before the pair’s final confrontation on the debate stage — Trump made an appearance at a Nashville fundraiser that was expected to bring in $8 million for the campaign.The President insists, however, he has enough funds to prevail on Nov. 3 — as he did four years ago, despite being outspent by his then-rival Hillary Clinton.
Mute buttons, Lincoln and a watch: Six takeaways from the Trump-Biden debate
A MORE CIVILIZED EVENING
(Reuters) After the first Trump-Biden debate in September devolved into a chaotic shouting match, moderators said they would mute each candidate’s microphone to allow the other to speak without interruption for two minutes at the outset of each 15-minute debate segment.
The mute button did not much come into play, and even during the remaining free debate segments, the candidates maintained a more civil demeanor than at their last meeting.
Trump seemed to be on his best behavior early in the evening – even to moderator Kristen Welker, a member of the White House press corps he frequently denigrates. “So far, I respect very much the way you’re handling this,” he said.
But as the debate wore on, Trump was reverting to form – talking over Welker and mocking Biden while he spoke.
