One thing seems clear: Former President Donald Trump’s indictment was good for business. Consider the numbers. In the first three months of 2023, Trump’s campaign raised $14.4 million. And in the weeks since the indictment? Trump has raised more than $15 million – $4 million of which arrived within just 24 hours of the indictment. Indeed, the indictment has rejuvenated Trump’s fundraising efforts.
“A more thorough accounting of Mr. Trump’s post indictment fund-raising will not be available for months, when the next quarterly filing is due,” The New York Times reported. “Still, the latest numbers show that the case against Mr. Trump gave a holt of energy to his efforts to raise campaign funds, which had been sluggish out of the gate, drawing more than 300,000 individual donations, a vast majority of which were under $200, his campaign said.”
Trump Raking in Donations
Sure, Trump was the first Republican (or the first anyone) to enter the 2024 presidential race, giving him a head-start with respect to fundraising. But the early entrance doesn’t seem to account for the recent surge of support for Trump, who seems to be benefiting directly from having been indicted.
Most of the money Trump has raised – $14 million of it – came from his Save America Joint Fundraising Committee. And as of March 31, Trump’s campaign had $13.9 million “cash on hand.”
“The Trump campaign has used his joint fund-raising committee not merely as an umbrella group to disburse funds,” The Times reported, “but also to pay some campaign expenses … The committee has also transferred funds to a separate committee, called Save America, that has supported Mr. Trump’s political activities.”
To put Trump’s current fundraising haul into context with his rivals, consider that Nikki Haley raised $8.3 million. Not really in the same ballpark as Trump.
So, why has Trump been able to raise so much money off the news that he was being indicted? Because many people, especially Trump’s base, view the indictment as being politically motivated.
Politically Motivated Indictment?
Donald Trump’s indictment in Manhattan, stemming from alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, is being received as a politically motivated process. It’s not just Republicans crying political witch-hunt, either. Democratic legal observers have expressed their concern that the case against Trump is just so thin – likely far too thin to result in a conviction. And perhaps too thin to have been made in a good-faith effort to uphold the law. Meaning the indictment has the feel of a political process, rather than a legal process.
Now, one of the problems – one of many, including the weaponization of the legal system for political aims – is that Donald Trump’s central narrative, the one he’s been crafting for a decade about being a marginalized figure suffering under the strain of a never-ending political witch hunt, is validated.
That’s right. Now when Trump says, “They’re out to get me, they won’t stop until they’ve got me,” he can point to Alvin Bragg’s case as tangible proof.
What Democrats could perhaps have dismissed as hyperbolic conspiracy peddling, is now a quite legitimate claim. And now, the legitimacy of that claim has motivated Trump’s base, who are responding with small-dollar donations. Lots of them.
It’s funny. Democrats, who profess to want Trump to fade into obscurity, are the ones keeping him relevant.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
