Trump Raises $4 Million in His ‘Persecution’ Indictment Pity Party

Former President Donald Trump is turning what he calls his “persecution” into a cash cow, receiving more than $4 million in donations less than 24 hours after being charged in New York.

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign launched a barrage of indictment-themed fundraising emails shortly after Manhattan’s grand jury voted on Thursday to make Trump the first president. incumbent or former US President to be indicted in US history.

Several fundraising emails describe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as “bought and paid for” by George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and Democratic mega-donor who frequently figures in right-wing conspiracy theories.

The emails warn that “these are truly dark times for our country” and claim that Trump was indicted for “committing no crime” at the direction of “the radical left, the deep state, the lobby of the open borders and the globalist cabal of Soros”. .”

“This witch hunt will massively backfire on (President) Joe Biden,” one of the emails states, making a baseless claim that the president was behind the indictment in New York.

Trump has also personally described himself as a victim of “persecutionand “election interference” in a statement and several all-caps posts on Truth Social.

The pity party’s fundraising strategy has been a hit with Trump’s base. His campaign said Friday that it received contributions from all 50 states “within the first five hours of the bogus indictment.”

“President Donald J. Trump has raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours following (Bragg’s) unprecedented political persecution of the President and gross interference in the 2024 election against the leading Republican nominee in presidential election,” the Trump campaign said in a statement.

“This incredible wave of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people view the indictment of President Trump as a shameful weaponization of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor,” the statement continued.

Trump’s campaign went on to say that more than 25% of contributions came from new donors. The average contribution to the 2024 campaign would have been $34.

The campaign said it was “funded by an unrivaled coalition of working patriots who are tired of special-interest donors like Soros spending billions of dollars to influence our elections.”

Ahead of Trump’s indictment, some political analysts speculated that filing charges could help the former president in his quest to win the 2024 GOP nomination, which could be contested by other top Republicans. level like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump wasn’t the only one to seize on the indictment as a Republican fundraising opportunity soon after the decision became public.

The Republican National Senate Committee, which raises money for GOP Senate candidates, called the indictment “an escalation of Democrats using state power to target and silence their enemies” in an e fundraising email.

Trump loyalists like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have also urged Republicans to send money to the Trump campaign to fight “hatred” of the former president.

“You have to help this man, Donald J. Trump,” Graham said with tears in his eyes during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night. “Donald J. Trump.com, come on tonight, give the president some money to fight that bastard.”

Earlier this month, the Trump campaign unleashed doomsday rhetoric while calling on its supporters to fight “persecution” by contributing to a “final battle fund.”

Trump and his allies have repeatedly pushed the claim without evidence that efforts to investigate or prosecute the former president are covertly designed as attacks on his supporters.

Newsweek emailed Trump’s office for comment.