Trump campaign raises $138.7 million in July

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The presidential campaign of Donald Trump raised $138.7 million in July, providing a cash on hand total of $327 million at the end of the month in which the Republican former president survived an assassination attempt, it said on Thursday.

The fundraising for July was 24% higher than the $111.8 million that the campaign said it raised in June.

The assassination attempt against Trump on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was expected to spur campaign contributions. Trump's fundraising had also previously surged when he was convicted in late May on felony charges related to a hush-money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump's campaign had said last month that it raised $331 million in the second quarter, topping the $264 million that the campaign of then-Democratic candidate and U.S. President Joe Biden raised in the same period.

Biden ended his reelection bid on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Nov. 5 vote against Trump. The Biden withdrawal from the race came amid questions about his age and health following a faltering debate performance against Trump in late June.

Harris's takeover since has reenergized a campaign that had faltered badly amid Democrats' doubts about Biden's chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue to govern had he won.

Harris's election campaign said on Sunday it had raised $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the first week after she became the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

Polls showed that Trump had built a lead over Biden, including in battleground states, after Biden's disastrous debate performance, but Harris's entry to the race has changed the dynamic with polls showing a tight contest.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)