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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Donald Trump’s campaign said it shattered its own fundraising record after his felony conviction in New York on Thursday, raising almost twice as much money through an online donor platform than on any previous day.
The campaign said on Friday morning that it had raised $34.8mn following the verdict, which made Trump the first ex-president ever to be convicted of a felony. Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial.
That amount was nearly double the sum garnered on its best-ever day on the WinRed donation platform, the campaign said. The site briefly crashed on Thursday.
“President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November fifth is the day Americans will deliver the real verdict,” said Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles in a statement.
The Trump campaign moved within minutes of the guilty verdict to raise money, calling the ex-president a “POLITICAL PRISONER” on its website.
“I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial,” wrote Trump on the campaign page. “I DID NOTHING WRONG!”
Trump’s campaign has stepped up its fundraising efforts, including holding events with oil barons in Texas and a planned June trip to Silicon Valley, as the Republican tries to narrow President Joe Biden’s cash advantage with five months to go before November’s election.
Republicans and donors immediately claimed fundraising victories after the hush money trial verdict, which found Trump guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election and cover up his tracks in business records.
Jason Thielman, who runs the official Senate Republican campaign arm, said his group had “its largest online daily fundraising haul” of the 2024 election cycle. He wrote on X, “Outrage over the sham verdict against Trump has spurred average Americans into action!”
Last year, Trump used each of his four indictments to boost his fundraising effort, selling T-shirts bearing his mugshot, with contributions spiking each time. But Trump political groups have spent at least $80mn of donor money on his legal fees — and have roughly that much cash less in their election war chest than groups supporting Joe Biden.
Trump faces a civil fraud judgment that threatens his businesses in New York, and three criminal cases, including charges from the Department of Justice special counsel that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election.
While the campaign highlighted the small-dollar donations that poured in following Thursday’s verdict, several wealthy donors also announced their support after the case finished.
Venture capitalist Shaun Maguire, a partner in venture capital firm Sequoia, said on Thursday that he had donated $300,000 to Trump’s bid after the verdict, writing on X, “The timing isn’t a coincidence.”
New York Republican Lee Zeldin, a former US congressman, also claimed on X after the verdict that he had “secured” a $800,000 donation for Trump.
“Never experienced a massive ask that easy,” wrote Zeldin.
Google searches for DonaldJTrump.com and WinRed spiked over 5,000 per cent, “trump campaign website” jumped over 1,000 per cent and “biden campaign website” saw an increase of over 350 per cent.
Several megadonors have also swung behind Trump in recent days, with billionaires Stephen Schwarzman, Bill Ackman and Miriam Adelson all making moves to back the former president’s re-election bid.
Additional reporting by Sam Learner in New York
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