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Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign manager stressed that January has to be the campaign’s “best fundraising month to date,” even as the campaign announced that it had a solid fundraising quarter.

In a memo distributed to Democratic donors and obtained by The Guardian, campaign manager Greg Schultz hailed the campaign’s recent $22.7 million haul, noting that it was a 50 percent increase over the last quarter.

But in the two-page memo Schultz also stressed it’s “absolutely critical that January is our best fundraising month to date, so we can continue to make strategic investments throughout the country and perform well in the early states.”

Joe Biden answers a question at a town hall meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

The memo and Schultz’s appeal come as Biden, the Democratic frontrunner, continues to find himself in the middle of the fact on fundraising in yet another quarter and just before voting begins in the early primary states.

Only a few of the more than two dozen Democratic candidates have released their fundraising numbers so far but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, two of Biden’s chief rivals in the Democratic primary, have outraised him.

Still, Schultz, in the memo, hailed the campaign’s most recent fundraising numbers as a positive sign for Biden. “Thanks to the hard work of many, we’re thrilled to announce that the fourth quarter was our best to date, raising $22.7 million, a 50% growth from last quarter. In addition, 57% of our donors were new this quarter, highlighting the new support our campaign is gaining daily,” Schultz wrote.

“In what is typically a difficult time of the year to raise money, the Vice President’s growing momentum translated directly into strong performances in both online and offline revenue, ensuring that we have the resources we need to enter the next critical phase of this campaign.”



Schultz added that Donald Trump’s repeated criticism at Biden has actually given the campaign a fundraising boost. “In fact, Trump’s attacks have majorly backfired, providing our campaign a fundraising boost and reminding Democratic primary voters what we have been saying all along — Trump does not want Biden to be the nominee because he knows Biden will flat out beat him in November,” Schultz wrote.

“He is so desperate to avoid the electoral defeat he would face against Biden that he got himself impeached soliciting a foreign government in the effort. During impeachment our average digital revenue per day more than doubled, up by 121%, where it was in the weeks preceding impeachment.”

The campaign would always be competing with other candidates on fundraising in the primary, Schultz said, alluding to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sanders, who both transferred money from their Senate accounts to their presidential campaigns.

“Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden will be spending the vast majority of their time in the coming months where they are most effective — talking with voters in the early states,” Schultz concluded.

“And, because we didn’t transfer tens of millions of dollars from other campaign accounts like our opponents, we will always be playing from behind in the cash race. It is absolutely critical that January is our best fundraising month to date, so we can continue to make strategic investments throughout the country and perform well in the early states.”