Donald J. Trump’s campaign announced Friday evening that he had raised nearly $53 million in the 24 hours after his felony conviction, breaking online records for Republicans and raising enough money for the ‘help close what constitutes a substantial financial gap with President Biden.
It’s difficult to put the enormity of that sum into perspective, but it would almost equal, in a single day, the $58 million that Mr. Trump’s main fundraising arm has raised online over the past six month of 2023, according to the federal government. records.
The campaign said for the first time Friday morning that it had raised nearly $35 million in the hours following the verdict. By Friday evening, the campaign had revised that figure to $52.8 million within 24 hours of Mr. Trump’s conviction.
“This momentum is only just beginning,” Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, two of Mr. Trump’s top advisers, said in a joint statement.
The numbers won’t be verifiable until campaign committees and WinRed, the online processing platform for Republicans, file with the Federal Election Commission in the coming months.
Additionally, the campaign reported Friday morning that nearly 30 percent of donors who gave online were new to WinRed, giving the former president an invaluable infusion of new people from which to solicit contributions as his campaign unfolds. until November.
The one-day haul was far more than the $4 million Mr. Trump raised when his mugshot was released in 2023, after he was booked into Atlanta for his indictment there.
Cash has been one of Mr. Biden’s strengths in the race so far. His main campaign committee began May with $84 million, compared to Mr. Trump’s $49 million.
The 24-hour fundraising total could erase that advantage entirely, although Mr. Biden said his campaign had an additional $100 million spread across accounts he shared with the Democratic Party. Mr. Trump’s campaign has not disclosed the total amount of his cash in party accounts.
The Biden campaign has used its money to advertise in key battleground states since Mr. Trump became the Republican nominee and Mr. Trump has been absent from the airwaves.
The post-verdict total was well above the $26 million the Biden campaign announced four years ago, in the 24 hours after Kamala Harris was named vice president.
In April, Mr. Trump’s operation, working with the Republican National Committee, announced it had raised $76.2 million, surpassing for the first time what Mr. Biden’s shared operation with the Democratic National Committee had reported, or $51 million.
This conviction also appears to have motivated Democratic donations, although to a much lesser extent.
ActBlue, which processes online contributions for Democrats, recorded three of its four largest donation hours of all of 2024 on Thursday evening following the conviction, totaling nearly $1.3 million in one single hour, according to its online ticker.
Rachel Shorey reports contributed.
News Source : www.nytimes.com
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