The astonishing amount Team Trump has raised in the 24 hours since he became a convicted felon
Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign received a major boost following his felony conviction Thursday, as donors poured $52.8 million into his coffers in the 24 hours after the verdict.
Trump’s campaign immediately made a fundraising pitch after the verdict — and District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s celebratory news conference in Manhattan — with a photo of the 77-year-old next to his claim, “I’m a political prisoner!”
According to the campaign, the flood of donations crashed the website.
“From just minutes after the mock trial ruling was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed,” the campaign said.
The ‘Team Trump’ campaign account officially announced on Wednesday evening that their site was offline.
Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign got a shot in the checkbook following his felony conviction Thursday, as donors poured $52.8 million into his coffers in the 24 hours after the verdict
“The American people see through Crooked Joe Biden’s rigged show trial,” they wrote.
“So many Americans were so moved to donate to President Trump’s campaign that the WinRed pages went offline.”
A spokesperson for the campaign said in a statement: ‘Our fundraising link receives so much traffic that there are occasional delays. This outpouring is enormous and reflects what we have been saying all along: the American people see this sham for what it is, and they are willing to support President Trump in his fight to save our nation.”
Shortly afterwards the site returned to normal.
Piers Morgan noted that the small cash donations suggested there could be momentum for the former president.
“Trump’s donation websites are crashing… I suspect this verdict will drive him back to the White House,” he wrote on X.
Several major Republican donors have said they would continue donating to Trump’s campaign despite the conviction.
“I’ve never heard of anyone giving anything,” New York businessman and Republican donor Andy Sabin told CNBC.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg responds during a press conference after former US President Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges in his criminal trial
“There’s no concern about that,” another longtime GOP donor added. ‘Maybe a year ago [the trials mattered]. Now, none.”
While the verdict won’t stop Trump from continuing his election bid, it puts the already tense battle into even more unpredictable waters.
However, it is unlikely that these cases will go to trial before the November elections.
In addition to the New York case, Trump faces three much more serious criminal charges over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and the hoarding of top-secret documents in his Florida home.
Biden has so far been cautious about making Trump’s many legal problems an election issue. As president, he wants to prevent ammunition being given to Republicans who claim he is interfering with the justice system.
Trump emerged from the courtroom visibly distressed after the jury found him guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying company records.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” he complained to the eagerly awaiting camera crews and press.
The ex-president said the “real verdict will be delivered by the people on November 5.”
“Everyone knows what happened here… this is a Soros-backed prosecutor.”
‘We have done nothing wrong. I’m a very innocent man.’
“That’s okay, I’m fighting for our country, I’m fighting for our Constitution. This was done by the Biden administration to hurt a political opponent.”
‘I just think it’s a shame. And we will keep fighting and fighting until the end and we will win because our country has gone to hell.”
Prosecutors had to set a high bar to convince a 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters.
Daniels claimed she and Trump had sex a decade earlier, which he has denied.
The case featured explosive evidence from Daniels and exposed the “catch and kill” practices of the tabloid National Enquirer, which bought and suppressed stories that could be damaging to Trump.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has gathered all the evidence and witness statements they say are enough to charge Trump with 34 felony counts of “falsifying corporate records.”
Trump’s team tried to vigorously defend the former president and distance him from Cohen’s payments to Daniels.
They also reiterated some of their strongest points, namely that hush money payments are not illegal and that Trump merely wanted to spare his family the humiliation of Daniels’ alleged affair claims.
It is the first time that a former American president has faced a criminal trial.
Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and will face Joe Biden in the November elections.
It means the verdict could upset the 2024 White House race and prove a pivotal moment in United States history.
The charges Trump faces each carry a maximum prison sentence of up to four years.