Bernie Sanders Has Reportedly Already Raised Millions For 2020, So Here We Go

It's not déjà vu, Bernie Sanders is stepping up to the plate once more and is running for president in the 2020 election. The former 2016 candidate first announced his bid for the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Following the news, Bernie Sanders raised $4 million for his 2020 campaign in the first 12 hours, so it's all happening.

In the time since Sanders announced his presidential bid, the campaign received around $6 million in 24 hours, according to The Guardian, with $4 million of that coming in at around 12 hours, according to ABC News. The publication reported on Feb. 20 that the money came from around 330,000 donors with the average amount being approximately $27.

Sanders is joining a crowded field of Democratic candidates including Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. But he already clinched the top spot for most money raised in a 24-hour period. That position was initially held by Harris, who raised $1.5 million in her first 24 hours — which, according to The Guardian, matched the first-day earnings of Sanders back in 2016 election. The record funds his campaign was able to raise so far in his 2020 run isn't all that surprising given the reaction to his announcement on Tuesday.

Sanders posted a video to Twitter Tuesday morning announcing his 2020 presidential bid. In the message, he said, "Say you're in." He wrote,

I'm running for president. I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least 1 million people from across the country. Say you're in:

Let me tell you, people definitely let Sanders know they're in — I mean, aside from the millions in donations. In 24 hours, the video had already been viewed over 5 million times and garnered almost 100,000 retweets. There was also an outpouring on Twitter of people happy to see him throwing his hat in the ring.

Although not quite everyone on Twitter was thrilled by the news of Sanders 2020. In response to Sanders announcing his run, Trump whipped out his 2016 nickname for the candidate: "Crazy Bernie." In a Feb. 20 tweet, the president wrote, "Crazy Bernie has just entered the race. I wish him well!" Just one of the many times he's referred to Sanders as "Crazy Bernie" since 2016.

Sanders was ready with a retort that made it clear he's not taking kindly to the nickname or Trump. Following Trump's tweet, Sanders retweeted the message with his very own response calling the president "a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe, and a fraud." He wrote,

What’s crazy is that we have a president who is a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and a fraud. We are going to bring people together and not only defeat Trump but transform the economic and political life of this country. Say you're in:

Elite Daily reached out to both the White House and representatives of Sanders for additional comment, but did not receive a response.

At this early point in the election, there are a lot of players on the 2020 field. But if Sanders' first-day earnings are any indication of things to come, this might be a good sign.