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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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.
"If you are one of the millions of American Patriots wanting to donate to Donald Trump’s campaign and you get an error message from @WINRED …don’t give up! Log back on and try again ! or Text TRUMP to 88022," LaCivita wrote in a tweet.
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Trump's campaign website also directed donors to Anedot, another fundraising platform used by various GOP campaigns.
Trump's team also fired off a warning shot to the campaigns of down-ballot Republicans not to try and raise money directly off of the former president's conviction, to prevent the "siphoning" of donations headed to Trump's coffers.
Meanwhile, the former president's top pollsters put out a memo on the eve of the verdict arguing that a conviction would not have any electoral consequences.
Trump holds a trio of top dollar fundraisers in California at the end of next week.
Biden's re-election campaign also quickly sent out fundraising appeals following the verdict.
"Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.
And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."
Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee for the first time out-raised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
While Trump has stepped up his fundraising, the Biden campaign still enjoyed an $84 million to $49 million cash-on-hand advantage at the end of April.