Trump raised $141 million in May, boosted by conviction
Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee say they raised $141 million in May, a massive amount of money that includes millions of dollars raised after he was convicted of criminal silence in a lawsuit against him.
Trump’s campaign isn’t required to disclose its donations to the Federal Election Commission until later this month. But its decision to release the numbers early underscores how it views the wave of contributions as evidence that last Thursday’s ruling has energized the former president’s supporters and a sign that it won’t derail his efforts to return to the White House.
President Joe Biden’s campaign has not yet released its totals for money raised in May. Trump and the Republican Party reported raising $76 million in April, far more than the $51 million first reported that month by Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
It’s unclear how much Trump and the Republican Party spent in May. But the amount could help him close the money gap with Biden that has persisted throughout the election.
Trump’s campaign said in a press release on Monday that it received more than two million donations in May, equivalent to an average of $70.27. More than a third of these donations, 37.6%, came in the form of online contributions in the 24 hours after the verdict was announced.
Nearly one-quarter of donors were new to the campaign, it said.
“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for President Donald J. Trump. The American people saw right through a fraudulent Joe Biden’s rigged trial and sent a powerful message to Biden and the Democrats — the real verdict will come on November 5,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris Lacivita and Susie Wills said in a statement.
Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said the campaign would see what the numbers actually are when they are officially reported, but added, “One thing is for sure: Trump’s billionaire friends are supporting 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 foot the bill.”
Trump’s campaign announced last week that it had raised more than $50 million online in the 24 hours after a Manhattan jury delivered its verdict, making Trump the first former president in the country’s history — and the first presumptive nominee of a major party — to be convicted of a crime.
He will be sentenced on July 11.