President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign revealed it has raised more than $7 million since the former president was processed at an Atlanta jail and his mugshot was taken last week.
Immediately after the former president’s mugshot was released online, it immediately drew considerable attention on social media. On X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, President Trump posted on his account for the first time in more than two years, showing his mugshot while declaring election interference and directing supporters to his campaign website.
A spokesperson for the former president’s 2024 bid, Steven Cheung, confirmed over the weekend that $7.1 million was raised since he was booked. On Friday alone, the campaign raised $4.18 million, which is the “highest grossing day” of the campaign, Mr. Cheung wrote on X on Saturday evening.
The spokesman noted that some $20 million has been raised in the last three weeks, which he said coincided with indictments in Washington, D.C., in separate cases. Special counsel Jack Smith indicted President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for alleged criminal behavior that he said the former president engaged in in the wake of the 2020 election and around Jan. 6, 2021.
“Organic money has skyrocketed, especially after [President Trump] tweeted out the picture along with the website URL,” Mr. Cheung wrote.
The fundraising haul underscores how the former president’s legal troubles have been a fundraising blessing. The mounting charges have also failed to denigrate his poll numbers, with RealClearPolitics on Sunday showing the former president with 55.1 percent, easily beating out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is No. 2, by more than 40 percentage points.
The mugshot, which was posted by a Georgia courthouse on the evening of Aug. 24, has since been turned into coffee cups, posters, bobblehead dolls, and T-shirts. It shows President Trump leaning forward and staring directly into the camera.
When President Trump made the post on X, the website he linked included the mugshot and asked supporters to make a “contribution to evict Crooked Joe Biden from the White House and SAVE AMERICA during this dark chapter in our nation’s history.” His website continued, “If you are doing poorly due to the sinister people in control of our country right now, don’t even think about donating.”
https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
“The American people know what’s going on. What has taken place is a travesty of justice and ELECTION INTERFERENCE. The Left wants to intimidate YOU out of voting for a political outsider who puts the American people FIRST,” his donation site also said. “But I walked into the lion’s den with one simple message on behalf of our entire movement: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER OUR MISSION TO SAVE AMERICA.”
President Trump himself told media outlets after the arrest that it was a “terrible experience” and the mugshot wasn’t a “comfortable feeling.” The reason why, he said, is because he didn’t do anything wrong.
