Former President Trump’s campaign team announced on Friday that they have raised $52.8 million after the Manhattan jury found him guilty in the hush money case. This figure is astounding, representing more than half of the funds raised by Trump’s team last year.
The donations primarily came from small donors, with 30% being new donors to the Republican fundraising platform, WinRed. The platform experienced temporary outages due to high traffic immediately after the verdict was announced.
Raising $52.8 million in a single day is a substantial amount, equivalent to collecting over $2 million per hour.
In comparison, Trump’s team raised $76 million in the entire month of April. In April of this year, Trump’s monthly fundraising exceeded Biden’s for the first time, with Biden raising $51 million that month.
Interestingly, some of the highest fundraising days for Trump’s team have been linked to legal disputes.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Trump’s two highest fundraising days were before his conviction on Thursday – April 4, 2023, when he was indicted in New York for the hush money case, and August 25, 2023, when Trump took a widely-known mugshot at Fulton County Jail. On these days, Trump’s team received $15.4 million and $7.1 million in donations, respectively.
The $52.8 million only includes online donations, which typically come from donors contributing a few hundred dollars or less. Trump’s team must report their May fundraising by June 20.
Currently, the Democratic fundraising total remains higher, but this verdict may help Trump catch up. Many affluent donors had remained on the sidelines in the U.S. presidential election, but after the verdict, they have expressed willingness to support the Republican candidate.
Trump has garnered support from billionaire Miriam Adelson and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman. Hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow also announced on Thursday that he will continue to support Trump, with their donations going towards supporting Trump’s campaign activities in battleground states.
Trump is the first U.S. president to be indicted and convicted. Apart from the criminal cases in New York, there is also a case in Georgia and two federal lawsuits still ongoing, although these cases may not be heard in court before the November election.