Trump turns conviction into cash, spotlights record fundraising in wake of guilty verdict
Donald Trump is touting “record shattering” fundraising fueled by his convictions in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
The former president’s campaign announced on Friday morning that it had hauled in $34.8 million in fundraising from 6 p.m. ET to midnight on Thursday, immediately after Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City.
And on Friday evening, the Trump campaign announced an update — nearly $53 million raised in the 24 hours following the verdict through their online digital fundraising platform.
The campaign touted that the fundraising was “nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform” and emphasized that the guilty verdicts “have awakened the MAGA movement like never before.”
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Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
The surge in contributions comes as Trump aims to close the fundraising gap with President Biden as they face off in a 2024 election rematch.
“From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote in a statement on Friday morning.
WHAT TRUMP TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL FOLLOWING THE VERDICT
They spotlighted that “not only was the amount historic, but 29.7% of [Thursday’s] donors were brand-new donors to the WinRed platform.”
And pointing to the autumn election, LaCivita and Wiles reiterated that “President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November 5th is the day Americans will deliver the real verdict.”
Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history, Trump’s team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.
“Friend: Is this the end of America?,” Trump asked in the email. “I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.
“My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!” Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a “political prisoner.”
WinRed, the GOP online fundraising platform used by Trump’s campaign, among others, briefly shut down within an hour of the verdict.
Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita advised donors encountering a WinRed error message to sign up for Trump’s text messaging list or log back onto the site and try again.