Trump campaign claims fundraising windfall in wake of guilty verdict

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Donald Trump’s campaign said it had shattered its own fundraising record after his felony conviction on Thursday as a new poll showed a majority approved of the New York jury’s decision.

The Trump campaign said it had raised $52.8mn following the verdict, showing again the former US commander-in-chief’s ability to capitalise on his legal problems to bankroll his re-election bid.

The verdict in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 counts in his ‘hush money’ case, ushering in a new and unprecedented era in US presidential politics.

A Morning Consult poll on Saturday found that 54 per cent of those surveyed approved of the jury’s decision. At the same time, it found no overall decline in Trump’s popularity and noted that few supported sending the former president to jail.

Trump hailed the verdict’s impact on his fundraising efforts at a Friday press conference in Trump Tower, his New York home.

“The good news is last night . . . they raised with small money donors, meaning like $21, $42, $53, $38, [for each donation], a record $39mn in about a 10-hour period,” he said, adding that he would be appealing against the “scam” verdict.

Within minutes of the guilty verdict on Thursday, the campaign acted 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!”

US President Joe Biden criticised his predecessor and his allies for attacking the US justice system.

“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed, Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself,” the president said, speaking from the White House on Friday afternoon.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous. it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged, just because they don’t like the verdict.”

The Trump campaign said the near-$35mn raised was almost double the sum garnered on its best-ever day on the WinRed donation platform. The site briefly crashed on Thursday.

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 Biden’s cash advantage with five months to go before November’s election.

Republicans and donors immediately claimed fundraising victories after the verdict, which found Trump guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election and cover 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, the ex-president 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 Biden.

Trump still 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, on Thursday said he had donated $300,000 to Trump’s campaign 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,” Zeldin wrote.

Google searches for DonaldJTrump.com and WinRed spiked more than 5,000 per cent, “trump campaign website” jumped at least 1,000 per cent and “biden campaign website” jumped more than 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