Trump Convictions Fuel Record-Breaking Fundraising Surge

Donald Trump's campaign has reported a surge in fundraising following his guilty verdict on 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City. The former president's supporters have donated nearly $53 million in the 24 hours following the verdict, with a significant number of new donors.

Donald Trump's campaign has witnessed a remarkable surge in fundraising following his conviction on 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City. The former president's campaign announced that it had hauled in $34.8 million from 6 p.m. ET to midnight on Thursday, immediately after Trump was found guilty.

By Friday evening, the campaign updated the figure to nearly $53 million raised in the 24 hours following the verdict through their online digital fundraising platform. The campaign emphasized that the guilty verdicts "have awakened the MAGA movement like never before."

The fundraising surge comes as Trump aims to close the fundraising gap with President Biden as they face off in a 2024 election rematch. "From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support," Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote in a statement on Friday morning.

They spotlighted that "not only was the amount historic, but 29.7% of [Thursday's] donors were brand-new donors to the WinRed platform." And pointing to the autumn election, LaCivita and Wiles reiterated that "President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November 5th is the day Americans will deliver the real verdict."

Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation's history, Trump's team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters. "Friend: Is this the end of America?," Trump asked in the email. "I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial."

"My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!" Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a "political prisoner."

WinRed, the GOP online fundraising platform used by Trump's campaign, among others, briefly shut down within an hour of the verdict.

Trump's campaign website also directed donors to Anedot, another fundraising platform used by various GOP campaigns.

Meanwhile, Biden's re-election campaign also quickly sent out fundraising appeals following the verdict. "Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.

And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."

Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee for the first time out-raised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee. While Trump has stepped up his fundraising, the Biden campaign still enjoyed an $84 million to $49 million cash-on-hand advantage at the end of April.