Shortly after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony criminal counts, he took to social media to lament the verdict and ask supporters for financial support.
It paid off. Trump and the Republican National Committee reported this week that together they raised $141 million in May, much of it in the final two days of the month when Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal conviction.
By comparison, President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised $85 million during the same period, according to new Federal Election Commission filings.
Trump was found guilty on May 30. His response was almost immediate via text messages, emails and posts on social media, where he raged against the verdict and described himself as a “political prisoner.”
“This was a disgrace — a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt,” one post stated on his Truth Social account. “We will fight for our Constitution — this is long from over!”
Atlanta tea party activist Debbie Dooley said the verdict energized existing donors and motivated others to get off the sidelines and send a message about what they believe is a “weaponized judicial system.”
“It frightens a lot of people, and they opened up their checkbooks,” she said. “Because they see what they’re doing to Trump and they said, ‘Look, they do it to an ex-president of the United States: We’re next.”
Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records to hide an alleged affair with a porn star as part of a scheme to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. He is scheduled for sentencing July 11.
The former president has denied wrongdoing and accused Biden, his opponent in November, Democrats and court officials in New York of pursuing the case as part of an attempt to weaken his chances of being elected president again.
Of the money Trump raised last month, $1.5 million of the itemized donations were attributed to people living in Georgia. And of that, more than $1 million came in the last two days of the month, coinciding with the day of Trump’s conviction and the day after.
Trump has raised about $4.6 million from Georgia this election cycle. That means that the money raised in Georgia in the last two days of May represents 69% of his total fundraising in Georgia for the month and 22% of his Georgia dollars overall.
Biden raised about $682,831 in May from Georgia residents. He has raised about $2.7 million from Georgia this cycle.
During the 2020 election, Biden raised $12.2 million in Georgia ahead of his victory nationally and in Georgia. Trump raised nearly $15 million.
Emory professor Andra Gillespie said she received fundraising texts from Trump in rapid succession during the 36 hours after the jury announced its verdict. Gillespie said the money is a testament to how Trump has managed to persuade his supporters to take the cases against him personally, as well.
“It’s not surprising at all that his supporters would rally around him at a moment where they are incensed by the verdict and they want to show their displeasure,” she said.
The money will help the former president’s team afford to purchase more TV advertising, but Gillespie cautions against inferences on how much impact it will have on the polls.
“You can certainly infer competitiveness from fundraising,” Gillespie said. “But just because somebody raises money doesn’t necessarily mean that that automatically is going to translate one-for-one into votes.”
Staff writer Caleb Groves contributed to this article.
