Trump verdict fires up the donor class leading to massive May fundraising haul

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday announced that they and the Republican National Committee, fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May.

That’s up from the $76 million they raked in back in April when they topped President Biden and the Democratic National Committee for the first time in their 2024 election rematch. 

Spotlighting their grassroots appeal, the campaign said that the average dollar donation was $70.27 with 25% of the donors in May being first time contributors to Trump.

And Trump’s team claimed that outside groups supporting the former president’s White House bid raked in another $150 million in May.   

In a statement, Trump Campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said, ‘President Trump raised $141 million this month because Americans remember the roaring economy, secure border, and peace through strength at home and abroad under Donald J. Trump, and we will return to prosperity and success when he is re-elected in November.’

Monday’s announcement comes in the wake of what the Trump campaign touted as ‘record-shattering’ fundraising in the immediate aftermath of the former president’s conviction in his criminal trial in New York City.

Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours following Thursday evening’s verdict, they and the Republican National Committee hauled in nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted towards May’s total. 

The campaign touted that the fundraising was ‘nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform’ and emphasized that the guilty verdicts ‘have awakened the MAGA movement like never before.’

The RNC said on Sunday that the total topped $70 million in online fundraising by the 48-hour mark.

Biden campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa, responding to the Trump team’s announcement, said ‘we’ll see how the numbers actually shake out come July, but one thing’s for certain: Trump’s billionaire friends are propping up the campaign of a white collar crook because they know the deal – they cut him checks and he cuts their taxes while working people and the middle class pay the tab.’  

The Biden campaign has also been fundraising off of the Trump verdict, and a source familiar told Fox News that ‘the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the best fundraising 24 hours of the Biden campaign since launch.’

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.

Biden had regularly been outpacing Trump in monthly fundraising, but Trump’s April haul was boosted by a record-setting $50.5 million that the former president’s campaign raked in at a single event early in the month with top dollar GOP donors that was hosted at the Palm Beach, Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson.

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.

Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.