Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) raised $6 million from over 225,000 donors a little over 24 hours after announcing his 2020 presidential bid, according to his campaign. In just 24 hours, Sanders raised $5,925,771 from 223,047 individuals surpassing Sen. Kamala Harris’s $1.5 million from over 38,000 donors in the first day of her campaign.
The New York Times conducted an analysis which found that Sanders “begins his 2020 candidacy with about 2.1 million online donors who have given money to him over the last six years, a massive lead among low-dollar contributors that is roughly equivalent to the donor base of all the other Democratic hopefuls combined.”
Sen. Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, has boasted about his apparent success in pushing the Democratic party to the left on issues like Medicare for All, raising the minimum wage, and free college tuition.
President Donald Trump had a mixed reaction to Sanders’s entry into the race Tuesday, telling reporters, “personally, I think he missed his time. But, I like Bernie. Because he is one person that, you know, on trade, he sort of would agree on trade. He was tough on trade, I am tough on trade.”
He also referenced the 2016 Democratic primary, alluding to allegations from supporters of Sanders that the primary had been rigged against him due to the Democratic National Committee allowing the Clinton campaign to control its finances.
“What happened to Bernie, maybe, was not so nice,” Trump said. “I think he was taken advantage of. He ran great four years ago, and he was not treated with respect by Clinton, and that was too bad. I thought what happened to Bernie Sanders four years ago was quite sad, as it pertains to our country. So we'll see how he does.”
Trump also tweeted out a message about Sanders Wednesday morning.
Crazy Bernie has just entered the race. I wish him well!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019