By I. Hansana, Jadetimes News
Former United States President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) raised $141 million in May, according to campaign officials. This substantial fundraising total was reportedly boosted by Trump's recent conviction in his hush money trial.
In a press release on Monday, Trump's campaign revealed that $53 million of the total was raised within 24 hours of a New York jury finding him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. This verdict made Trump the first current or former US president to be convicted of a crime.
The $141 million raised in May nearly doubles the $76 million total announced for April. Trump's campaign highlighted that the fundraising success was driven by more than 2 million donations, averaging $70.27 each, with a quarter of the donors contributing to Trump's campaign against President Joe Biden for the first time.
The campaign attributed the surge in donations to widespread support for Trump following the conviction, which they claimed had "outraged and motivated Americans from every walk of life."
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co Chairman Lara Trump stated, "Unfortunately for Democrats, their rigged political operation has backfired in a historic way, and Republicans are in a stronger position than ever to fire Crooked Joe Biden and Make America Great Again by electing President Trump on November 5."
Trump and his team have consistently portrayed the New York prosecution as a politically motivated witch hunt orchestrated by Biden, despite no evidence of the president's involvement in the state level case.
The impressive May haul continues a trend of improved fundraising for Trump's campaign, which out raised Biden's campaign for the first time in April. While Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have not yet announced their contributions for May, they reported raising approximately $51 million in April.
According to Federal Election Commission data, Biden's campaign raised over $180 million in the 15 months up to April 30, 2024, compared to about $120 million for the Trump campaign over the same period.