Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden smashed his own fundraising record in September by taking $383 million for his campaign. The record was largely led by a flood of donations that came in after his first debate with US President Donald Trump on September 30.

Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told AFP that the $383 million figure was a record and included $203 million raised from online donors.

Trump, who had been winning the fundraising race until now, lagged far behind last month with $248 million.

Besides the debate, a chaotic clash in which Trump constantly spoke over and interrupted Biden, Democrats were also moved to dig deep into their pockets because of the death of progressive Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

After Ginsburg died on September 18, small donors enraged by the idea that she could be replaced by a conservative nominated by Trump donated more than $100 million in one weekend to ActBlue, a platform that raises money for Democratic candidates at the presidential, congressional and local level.

The Biden campaign now has $432 million to spend on getting Biden elected. His figures are far higher than the record set by Barack Obama with nearly $200 million in September 2008.

Despite the financial advantage, O’Malley Dillon said: “We think this race is far closer than folks on (Twitter) think.”

In the national polls, Biden currently leads Trump by double digits. The US Presidential elections would be held on November 3.