Trump's Georgia Mug Shot Supercharges Fundraising, Raking in $7.1 Million - Report
© AFP 2023 / CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA
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Ex-POTUS Donald Trump appears to be successfully using his legal woes to his advantage. After having been indicted on four occasions in the last five months, not only have Republicans rallied around him, but his polling lead in the GOP presidential primary surged.
Former President Donald Trump’s fundraising effort has made quite an impressive haul of late, reportedly raising $7.1 million since his arrest at a Fulton County jail in Georgia August 24.
The 2024 Republican presidential nomination hopeful raised $4.18 million on Friday alone - the single-highest 24-hour haul of his campaign to date, according to a US report citing insiders. It was the historic Georgia booking on Thursday and the accompanying historic mug shot of the 45th POTUS that supercharged the fundraising, claim sources. Merchandise featuring the booking photo has been selling like hot cakes via the campaign's online store. Everything from posters, shirts, bumper stickers to beverage coolers has been slapped with Trump's mug shot, also bearing the tagline "NEVER SURRENDER!" prices are said to range from $12 to $34.
X screenshot.
© Photo : @Mousacisse1/X(Twitter)
As for Donald Trump's earlier indictments, they have allowed the campaign to rake in close to $20 million in the last three weeks, a source told the report.
Ex-US President Donald Trump was booked at Georgia's Fulton County Jail on August 24. Trump, who threw his hat into the ring of the 2024 race last year, was booked as Inmate No. P01135809 over charges of allegedly seeking to overturn the 2020 election outcome in Georgia. The former president pleaded not guilty. In less than half an hour he left the prison being released on a $200,000 bond. While Trump has been indicted in four separate cases since April, this is the first time a mug shot was taken, which quickly spread online.
Former US President Donald Trump was formally booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24, 2023. The mug shot, taken in relation to his Georgia election interference indictment, marks a first as he hadn't previously taken a booking photo for any of the prior indictment proceedings.
© Courtesy of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Donald Trump has been indicted four times since leaving office: In New York, for alleged falsifying of business records related to hush money payments; in Georgia, for alleged attempts to overturn the election; in Florida, for his alleged mishandling of classified documents; and in Washington, DC, for his alleged role in the Capitol riot.
After Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on March 30 on charges related to hush-money payments to an adult-film star his fundraising coffers swelled by $15.4 million, said the campaign. Over 300,000 individuals rushed to fund the 45th president's 2024 bid after the historic event, with 98% of these individuals being small donors contributing less than $200. A subsequent $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, the report added.
18 April 2023, 13:21 GMT
But it was Donald Trump's return to X social media platform (formerly Twitter), for the first time since January 2021, to post his mug shot and a link to a fundraising page for his presidential campaign that accelerated the fundraising to new height, claimed a source. Trump had last posted on what was then called Twitter on January 8, 2021, just two days after riots broke out at the US Capitol, and which led to his banning from the social media platform. In November, Twitter/X owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account after taking a poll of users, where 52% supported reinstating the former president.
The $7 million cited above is approximately one fifth of over $35 million that Donald Trump purportedly accrued in the second quarter through the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.
25 August 2023, 03:34 GMT
Trump has denied any wrongdoing after all the indictments, and arguing that they were a witch hunt and an attempt by the "Biden crime family" and the US Justice Department to interfere in the 2024 presidential electionTrump has also been insisting that indictments against him have only boosted his chances in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
“Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls,” he said at an Alabama fundraiser.
According to a recent poll released on Thursday, Trump holds a commanding lead in the Republican party and a large majority of Republicans believe Trump is not guilty of the crimes he is accused of, should he not stand trial before the general election.
