Former President Donald Trump raised millions of dollars in the days following his arrest in Georgia on charges related to the 2020 election.
Trump’s team reportedly raised $7.1 million in the 48 hours following the release of his first mugshot on Thursday by selling products with the image.
According to a source familiar with the figures, Friday was the highest-earning day of the campaign, bringing in $4.18 million.
On Saturday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung touted the figures in a post to X. He claimed that the campaign raised about $20 million in the last three weeks, which coincided with a separate 2020 election indictment in Washington, D.C., and Trump’s arrest in Atlanta last week.
“Organic money has skyrocketed, especially after @realDonaldTrump tweeted out the picture along with the website URL,” Cheung added in pointing out Trump’s first post to X, formerly known as Twitter, since January 2021.
Trump leads the Republican race in polling, and his team is also leading the pack in money.
According to Bloomberg, Trump raised $35 million and had $22.5 million cash on hand in the second quarter, which ended at the end of June, according to FEC reports.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was the next-closest Republican contender, raising $20.1 million in the second quarter and having $12.2 million on hand. DeSantis is also often ranked second in national polls.
Despite the enormous disparities in the figures, various factors on the Republican side confound the overall picture.
Trump, for example, publicly began his re-election campaign in November, whereas DeSantis did not open his campaign until May. Furthermore, The New York Times reports that DeSantis’ supporters have tens of millions of dollars more in cash on hand than Trump’s supporters. And much of the money flowing toward Trump is going toward legal fees as the former president fights a quartet of indictments.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has also amassed a sizable war chest, reporting around $21 million in cash on hand at the end of June, and has garnered the support of several important GOP megadonors.
So yet, the other GOP candidates have not demonstrated the same level of fundraising clout.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who is mostly self-funding his campaign, was the only other candidate to raise tens of millions of dollars in the second quarter. Vivek Ramaswamy, a third-place polling entrepreneur, raised $7.7 million in the last quarter – yet another statistic boosted by personal wealth.
President Joe Biden is leading the Democrats in fundraising and polling as he pursues a second term in office.
By the end of June, Biden had $20.1 million in cash on hand after raising $19.9 million in the second quarter. The next-closest Democrat is Robert F. Kennedy, who had $4.5 million in cash on hand as of June 30 after drawing $6.4 million in the previous quarter. Biden also has two joint fundraising groups, which have brought in tens of millions of dollars for himself and other Democratic campaigns.
Despite the fact that some other GOP candidates are far behind the overall money-raising leaders, some met the financial and polling requirements to participate in the first 2024 Republican primary debate last week in Milwaukee.
DeSantis, Scott, Ramaswamy, and Burgrum were all chosen. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was also present, as was former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Trump declined to attend the event, instead electing to speak with journalist Tucker Carlson.
