NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Fresh off his largest-ever fundraiser, which featured Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden declared Friday that the big-dollar event shows \u201cthat we are united\u201d in ways Republicans can\u2019t match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Biden campaign said it took in a record $26 million<\/a> from the sold-out gathering at Radio City Music Hall, which also featured late-night host Stephen Colbert as moderator for the presidential trio. Biden spent the night in New York, then addressed a separate crowd of around 200 of his largest donors and fundraisers from in and around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s because of you that I can say that we\u2019ve raised more money than previous Democratic campaign in history,\u201d said Biden, whose reelection bid said it already had $155 million in cash on hand<\/a> through the end of February \u2014 before Thursday night\u2019s take was factored in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA couple of us have been doing this for a year or two. I don\u2019t ever remember an event like last night,\u201d Biden said of himself and the past presidents. He added wistfully, \u201cI\u2019m the president but was looking out there, holy God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden said that \u201clast night showed the skeptics, it showed the press, it showed everyone that we are united.\u201d He is trying to present a\u00a0stark contrast<\/a>\u00a0with former President\u00a0Donald Trump, who is now seeking to\u00a0win back the White House<\/a>\u00a0but has been shunned by his only living Republican predecessor, President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even Trump\u2019s former Vice President, Mike Pence<\/a>, says he\u2019s unwilling to endorse his former boss. Trump and his Save American political action committee are also reporting having just $37 million<\/a> in cash on hand through February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, there were moments of disunity on Thursday night, when the event was interrupted by protesters objecting to the Biden administration\u2019s support of Israel in its war with Hamas<\/a> in the Gaza Strip. Larger groups of similar demonstrators massed outside the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also has shown strength in some early polls in key swing states, and even Biden acknowledged that in his Friday comments to donors. The president predicted that he would see his standing in key areas improve in the weeks following his State of the Union<\/a> address and noted that he\u2019d visited every major battleground state in recent weeks, saluting \u201cour grassroots organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden also tried to seize on Trump and other top Republicans\u2019 frequent question of whether the country is better off now than four years ago<\/a>, a time when the coronavirus pandemic<\/a> was still in its early stages and large swaths of the global economy were shutting down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, Donald, I\u2019m glad you asked the question,\u201d Biden said, noting that his administration had helped tame the pandemic while keeping the economy strong and unemployment low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have a different focus,\u201d Biden said noting a new question he wants voters to ponder, \u201cWill we be better off four years from now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n