Former President Donald Trump raised $35 million in the second quarter of 2023 for his 2024 presidential campaign effort, according to comments by a campaign official to Politico on Wednesday.
Trump’s joint fundraising committee, which includes his official campaign and a political action committee, the “Save America PAC,” jointly collected the money, according to the official. The amount is nearly double the $18.8 million that Trump raised in the first quarter of the year, suggesting that his two indictments have led to political rewards. (RELATED: Trump Campaign Shifts Strategy To Capitalize On Indictment Rocket Fuel)
Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on March 30 for allegedly falsifying business records, and by federal Special Counsel Jack Smith on June 8 on Espionage Act charges relating to his possession of classified information at Mar-a-Lago after his presidential term expired. Since then, his campaign has cited the indictment in fundraising appeals that present Trump as a victim of “witch hunts” by Democratic officials.
HEAR TRUMP AUDIO FOR THE FIRST TIME: @CNN clip reveals more details beyond those in the federal indictment including Trump mocking Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while appearing to share classified docs at his NJ golf club. pic.twitter.com/3H5gwjUiv6
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCNN) June 27, 2023
His indictments were the subject of international media attention, being the first time a president of the United States was criminally charged after leaving office and received prime-time news coverage — including his travels to and from courthouses in New York City and Miami as well as appearances in public on those trips. “In general, any time a candidate’s name is all over the media and dominating attention, it’s good for fundraising,” said Eric Wilson, a conservative media consultant to Politico, adding that Trump’s “wall-to-wall coverage just put him top of mind for donors.”
Trump raised $4 million in the 24 hours after his first indictment and $6.6 million in the days between his second indictment and court arraignment, according to Politico. Following his arraignment, Trump held his first in-person fundraiser of the campaign at his estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, which itself raised $2.1 million and attracted top GOP politicians, with Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama missing a key Senate vote to attend it.
Trump has been the most prolific fundraiser in the Republican presidential primary. Less than two years after the 2020 presidential election, Trump had raised more than $500 million for his political efforts, according to an OpenSecrets report from September of 2022 — a number that has dramatically increased since then.
However, the figures that Trump has raised are much smaller than his quarterly fundraising as president. In 2019, he raised $45 million in the year’s fourth quarter.
Currently, Trump leads the Republican primary field with 52.4% support in an average of all major polls, per RealClearPolitics, with 46% support in Iowa and 44.3% in New Hampshire. His closest rival, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, has 21.5% support nationally.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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