The Trump campaign announced it raised $200 million since former President Donald Trump was convicted last Thursday in a Manhattan courtroom on 34 felony counts related to the falsification of business records.
The swell of support was not surprising to Eric Trump, who explained on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that 70% of the donations were from small donors, 30% of whom were first-time contributors.
“I mean, these are Americans who are p*ssed off,” said the younger Trump. “They’re coming out of the woodwork, and they want to support a guy that they just believe is getting bamboozled by a system. … America sees through it. They know exactly what’s going on.”
The verdict came after a weeks-long trial over whether Trump falsified records to make a “hush money” payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s legal team has vowed to fight the conviction and is expected to enter a number of motions with the court this week ahead of the former president’s July 11 sentencing date. Trump could face up to 20 years in jail, but experts claim he is more likely to be issued a fine, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
His campaign claimed $54 million in donations poured in within 24 hours of the conviction, and the dollars kept coming all weekend.
Despite the infusion of cash, some polls suggest that Trump’s re-election bid has been jeopardized by the verdict.
An Ipsos/Reuters poll conducted May 30-31 found that support for Trump may have slipped, with 39% of those polled claiming they would vote for him compared to 43% of those polled in January. Nevertheless, the statistical margin of error still shows Trump and President Joe Biden in a dead heat, per Newsweek.
“Opinion on Trump is pretty much baked on across the country already, and last night’s verdict won’t change that,” Mark Shanahan, an American politics professor at the University of Surrey, wrote in a Friday email to Newsweek.
In the short term, Trump’s polling and fundraising may get a boost. However, Shanahan suggested that this could dissipate in the weeks and months ahead, along with voters’ emotional response to the jury’s decision.
Trump has called the trial “very unfair” and continues to cast himself as a victim of a weaponized legal system controlled by Democrats. The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has been accused of donating to Democrats, though the amounts appear to be minor — $10 to $35 — according to reporting by The New York Times.
