[S]anders, the independent senator from Vermont, has pledged to galvanize a grassroots movement of 1 million supporters.
And in just 24 hours he got a third of the way toward that goal. Sanders raised more than $6 million on Tuesday after he announced his campaign for president.
More than 225,000 people contributed, giving on average about $27 each, according to a press release from the campaign. Individuals contributed $600,000 dollars in donations that will recur every month.
That surge in fundraising is on top of the senator’s $9 million warchest.
Thousands of people have pledged to volunteer.
Sanders announced his run on VPR in an interview with Bob Kinzel, then immediately issued an email announcement featuring a 10-minute campaign video of the senator talking about why he making a second stab at the highest office.
The video was viewed more than 5.7 million times across social media platforms, his campaign said in a press release.
Sanders says he is running against Donald Trump because the president has divided the country and he believes he is the candidate best prepared to win. In the VPR interview, he talks about how his ideas have been adopted by many of the Democrats who have already announced bids for the White House.
Sanders ran in 2016 against one other candidate – Hillary Rodham Clinton – and won 23 primaries and caucuses. He clung on to Democratic nomination prospects until the Democratic Convention, but ultimately lost.
