Trump’s campaign funds surge by $7.1 mln as Georgia arrest rallies supporters

Former President Donald Trump raised $7.1 million since his arrest in Georgia on Thursday as his campaign sought to capitalize on the mug shot taken at a Fulton County jail, according to a person familiar.
Trump brought in $4.18 million just on Friday, the highest single-day haul of his 2024 presidential campaign effort, the person said.

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His campaign has taken in nearly $20 million in the last three weeks — a span that covers his two most recent indictments in Washington and Georgia, according to the person, who asked not to be identified speaking on the figures.

Fundraising accelerated after he returned to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for the first time since January 2021, to post his mug shot and a link to a fundraising landing page for his presidential campaign, the person said.

Politico earlier reported the figures. The $7 million raised is roughly a fifth of the more than $35 million he received in the second quarter through the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.

In the days after a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on March 30 on charges related to hush-money payments to an adult-film star, the campaign announced it had raised $15.4 million. It also said $6.6 million was raised “in a few short days” after Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in federal court on 37 felony counts related to mishandling classified materials and conspiring to stymie efforts by US officials to recover them.

Trump is the first US president to have a mug shot taken. His campaign is using the image to to sell merchandise, including t-shirts, posters, and coffee mugs. In the hours before he turned himself in at the Fulton County jail, his campaign sent out electronic fundraising pitches.

T-shirts with an image depicting the mugshots of former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani are pictured at the Y-Que printing store in Los Angeles, California, US, on August 25, 2023. (Reuters)

It’s all part of Trump’s effort to use his legal troubles to super-charge his White House comeback bid. He’s been indicted four times in the last five months. So far, the cases have prompted Republicans to rally around him, helping extend his polling lead in the GOP presidential primary.

Trump is leading opponents in the Republican presidential nomi-nation by about 41 percentage points, according to the average of polls tracked by RealClear Politics.

In the coming days, he’s planning to hold fundraisers, participate in print, television, radio, and podcast interviews as well as doing tele-rallies in early primary voting states, according to the person.

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