Former President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party raised $52.8 million within six hours following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in his “hush money” trial, the campaign announced on Friday.
This impressive sum amounts to more than half of their total fundraising for the entire month of April.
According to the campaign, Thursday’s contributions primarily came from small-dollar donors, with 30% being first-time contributors on WinRed, the GOP’s fundraising platform.
These figures will not be officially verified until the campaign submits its reports to the Federal Election Commission next month.
A CBS News analysis revealed that Trump’s fundraising has surged at pivotal moments in his legal battles.
Before his recent conviction, Trump’s top fundraising days were April 4, 2023, the day of his arraignment in New York City, and August 25, 2023, following the release of his mugshot from a separate case in Georgia.
Trump’s fundraising also saw significant increases when he was indicted by federal grand juries in Florida in June 2023 and in Washington, D.C., in August 2023.
Another spike occurred when a New York judge ordered him to pay $454 million in fines and interest in a civil fraud case in February.
Between his conviction and Friday afternoon, Trump’s team spent over $94,900 on Facebook and Instagram ads, more than double their expenditure in the week leading up to the trial’s conclusion, based on data from the Meta Ad Library.
READ ALSO: Donald Trump Found Guilty in New York Hush Money Case as Sentencing Set for 11 July
The ads depicted Trump as a “political prisoner” and described Thursday as a “dark day in America.”
Many of the ads start with the phrase, “I WAS JUST CONVICTED IN A RIGGED TRIAL,” echoing Trump’s claim that the charges are a “scam.” In his remarks at Trump Tower on Friday, Trump decried the trial as “rigged.” The ads drive traffic to WinRed, which experienced a crash due to the surge in traffic post-verdict, according to the campaign.
In April, Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party raised approximately $76 million, surpassing the monthly fundraising total of President Biden and the Democratic Party for the first time in this election cycle. Although FEC filings indicate that Democrats currently have more cash on hand, the influx of donations following his conviction could help Trump narrow the gap.
Trump’s post-verdict ads align with his consistent rhetoric throughout the trial, asserting that the charges were a politically motivated effort by Democrats to undermine his campaign. One of his most popular pre-conviction ads falsely claimed that the trial was initiated by the Biden administration, though it was actually prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney.
Trump has continually portrayed himself as the target of a political “witch hunt,” a term he’s used extensively on his platform Truth Social and in various social media ads.
Following his conviction, Trump is amplifying this narrative, urging supporters to “NEVER SURRENDER” beneath a photo of his mugshot on his WinRed donation page.
In response, the Biden campaign described Trump as “unhinged” and driven by “revenge and retribution” after his Friday remarks. President Biden, addressing the verdict for the first time later that day, stated at the White House that the outcome affirmed the “American principle that no one is above the law.”
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