--- title: Biden Trails Sanders and Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising description: Biden reportedly said his campaign would announce $15 million in third-quarter fundraising—about $6 million less than his previous quarter. canonical: https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-03T23:48:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:33.251Z article:section: Politics og:title: Joe Biden Trails Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising og:description: Biden aides are doing their best to project confidence og:url: https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2800b4b986d53dd/698a03c722fb85367ae29ed8/joe-biden-third-quarter.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidates Attend Gun Violence Forum In Las Vegas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Joe Biden Trails Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising twitter:description: Biden aides are doing their best to project confidence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2800b4b986d53dd/698a03c722fb85367ae29ed8/joe-biden-third-quarter.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:58 video:published: 2019-09-22 section: politics topics: Ukraine corruption, presidential phone call, Joe Biden, Biden's son, Ukrainian prosecutor, US foreign aid, Ukrainian election, political accusations genre: news, political statement tones: accusatory, defensive, combative, assertive emotions: anger (medium), indignation (medium), confidence (high) sentiment: negative audience: political news followers, general news audience, voters, foreign policy observers people: Donald Trump, Joe Biden content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:58] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Joe Biden Trails Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=313bb51e-ea04-4371-b604-fe116c8ea195&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Admits He Spoke to Ukraine President About Corruption and Possibly Biden [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Admits He Spoke to Ukraine President About Corruption and Possibly Biden](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lhNynjeO.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2019-09-22. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he spoke to Ukraine’s new president about his summer election._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents remarks by President Donald Trump about Ukraine and its new president. He characterizes a conversation with the new president as a perfect call and says Ukraine has a corruption problem. He then criticizes Joe Biden, accusing him of lying about speaking to his son and describing Biden's remarks about withholding money until a prosecutor was fired. ## Key points - Trump says Ukraine has had a tremendous corruption problem and claims Ukraine was involved in various things that took place in the United States. (00:00) - Trump says the new Ukrainian president got elected based on the promise to end corruption, which he calls probably his number one thing. (00:00) - Trump describes his call with the new president as a great call and a perfect call. (00:00) - Trump says what wasn't perfect was the horrible thing Joe Biden said. (00:00) - Trump claims Biden lied by saying he never spoke to his son, noting Biden had already said he spoke to his son. (00:28) - Trump says Biden stated very firmly the day before that of course you spoke to your son. (00:35) - Trump says Biden spoke about billions of dollars he wouldn't give Ukraine unless they fired the prosecutor. (00:47) - Trump claims Biden bragged that the prosecutor was fired and that they got the money. (00:54) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:28] Ukraine corruption and the 'perfect call'. Trump discusses Ukraine's corruption problem, the new president's election platform, and his call with him. - [00:28 to 00:58] Trump's criticism of Biden's statements. Trump accuses Biden of lying about speaking to his son and describes Biden's remarks about withholding money until a prosecutor was fired. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Donald Trump: "Ukraine has had a tremendous corruption problem." - [00:00] Donald Trump: "That call was a great call. It was a perfect call." - [00:00] Donald Trump: "What wasn't perfect is the horrible thing that Joe Biden said." - [00:28] Donald Trump: "And now he made a lie what he said he never spoke to his son." - [00:47] Donald Trump: "what he said about the billions of dollars that he wouldn't give them" ## Questions this video answers - What does Trump say about corruption in Ukraine? [00:00] - How does Trump describe his call with Ukraine's new president? [00:00] - Why does Trump say the new Ukrainian president was elected? [00:00] - What does Trump accuse Joe Biden of lying about? [00:28] - What does Trump say Biden said about billions of dollars and a prosecutor? [00:47] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:58]: Partisan political claims by the president about a political rival and corruption allegations involving Ukraine; the claims are presented by the speaker without independent verification in the video.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Oct 3, 2019 11:48 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 2020 Gun Safety Forum hosted by gun control activist groups Giffords and March for Our Lives at Enclave on October 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 2020 Gun Safety Forum hosted by gun control activist groups Giffords and March for Our Lives at Enclave on October 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller—Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Oct 3, 2019 11:48 PM UTC [Joe Biden](https://time.com/5681768/joe-biden-democratic-primary-strategy/) trailed rivals Sen. [Bernie Sanders](https://time.com/5690996/bernie-sanders-stent-artery-campaign/) and Indiana Mayor [Pete Buttigieg](https://time.com/longform/pete-buttigieg-2020/) in July, August and September fundraising, setting up what will be another round of questions about whether the former Vice President really is the best candidate to challenge President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/)‘s re-election. [Elizabeth Warren](https://time.com/5683099/elizabeth-warren-selfies/) has yet to announce her third-quarter fundraising haul, potentially adding another hiccup to Biden’s claim that he is the strongest Democrat in the field. Biden recently told donors in Palo Alto, Calif., that his campaign was expected to announce a $15 million third-quarter fundraising number, according to [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-03/booker-takes-aim-at-childhood-poverty-campaign-update). That’s off from the [$21.5 million he raised in the second quarter](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/03/joe-biden-raised-21point5-million-in-second-quarter-for-presidential-race.html) as a brand-new contender. Most candidates see a donor drop-off during the summer lull, but any perceived dip to Biden’s aura of inevitability face high scrutiny, especially among activists and donors who, above all else, want someone who can defeat Trump. It seems, though, that Biden made up for some serious lost ground in a final sprint. On Sept. 27 — ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline — he [offered](https://time.com/5688499/joe-biden-trump-ukraine-fundraising/) figures about how many donors had contributed and at what levels that suggested he was sitting at about $9.3 million for the quarter. Biden is facing trouble coming at him from all corners. Trump is [telling foreign governments](https://time.com/5691369/trump-impeachment-inquiry-key-players/) that he wants to see them launch an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Trump and the Republican National Committee are spending $10 million on a media campaign trying to frame the Bidens as corrupt and profiteers, and an ad submitted to CNN is seen as so misleading that the cable channel [refuses to run it](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/business/media/cnn-trump-campaign-ad.html). So under siege is Biden, his campaign on Thursday announced a $6 million ad blitz for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to shore up the polling. That figure represents 40 cents of every dollar Biden spent the last three months collecting. Biden aides did their best to project confidence. “Today’s fundraising totals put the campaign in a strong position as we enter the fall,” campaign manager Greg Schultz said in an email. “The question any campaign faces at this point is whether or not you have the resources to compete in early states and sustain your efforts beyond. Our campaign unequivocally does and builds on our strength each week.**“** Still, Biden lagged Sanders by [$10 million](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/01/politics/bernie-sanders-25-million-fundraising-third-quarter-2019/index.html) and [Buttigieg by $4 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/Pete-Buttigieg-fundraising.html) in that July-September stretch. And Warren is already promising to fund a ground campaign in Maine to help defeat **Sen.** Susan Collins’ re-election bid — suggesting she, too, outpaced Biden. At his fundraiser, Biden made no mention of how much cash he had spent or what he had banked. Neither did Schultz in his note. Those specifics aren’t due until Oct. 15 — which also happens to be the day of the next Democratic debate. It could be a very fateful day for Biden, who hasn’t exactly been a master debater yet. Still, Biden entered the race atop the field and has stayed there. “He hasn’t fallen,” noted one former aide who is unaffiliated with anyone this cycle. “The others just rose as people got to know them.” The challenge for Biden will be to keep those competitors from becoming too buoyant before Iowa has its lead-off caucuses on Feb. 3. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/"},"headline":"Joe Biden Trails Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising","datePublished":"2019-10-03T23:48:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:33.251Z","description":"Biden aides are doing their best to project confidence","url":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/","keywords":["2020 Election","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2800b4b986d53dd/698a03c722fb85367ae29ed8/joe-biden-third-quarter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2800b4b986d53dd/698a03c722fb85367ae29ed8/joe-biden-third-quarter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Presidential Candidates Attend Gun Violence Forum In Las Vegas","caption":"Democratic Presidential Candidates Attend Gun Violence Forum In Las Vegas","creditText":"Ethan Miller—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/2020-election/","name":"2020 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/","name":"Joe Biden Trails Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg in Recent Fundraising"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Admits He Spoke to Ukraine President About Corruption and Possibly Biden","description":"President Donald Trump said Sunday that he spoke to Ukraine’s new president about his summer election.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lhNynjeO/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-09-22T20:14:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lhNynjeO.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/","duration":"PT58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5692475/joe-biden-fundraising-lags/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```