Donald Trump Raises Over $7 Million Following Mugshot Release

WASHINGTON, USA – Donald Trump’s campaign has reported raising more than $7 million after his mugshot was released in Georgia.

The campaign stated that they have accumulated $7.1 million since Thursday, when Trump was booked at the Fulton County Jail on charges related to his alleged involvement in overturning the 2020 election results in the state. This unprecedented event marks the first time a former U.S. president has had a mugshot taken.

According to spokesman Steven Cheung, the campaign recorded its highest-grossing day yet, generating $4.18 million on Friday alone.

This significant amount of funds demonstrates how Trump’s legal troubles have emerged as a lucrative opportunity for his campaign, despite the extensive costs involved in his defense. Furthermore, these mounting legal challenges have failed to diminish his standing in the Republican presidential primary. In current polls, Trump consistently maintains a lead of 30 to 50 points over his rivals.

While Trump himself described the experience as “terrible” and stated that posing for the historic mugshot was uncomfortable, his campaign swiftly capitalized on its potential for fundraising.

Even before Trump returned home to New Jersey, his campaign began incorporating the image into their fundraising appeals to supporters. Trump reinforced this message on his Truth Social platform and by making his return to X (formerly known as Twitter) after a two-and-a-half-year absence to share the image and direct supporters to a fundraising page.

In a matter of hours, the campaign introduced a new line of merchandise featuring the mugshot, including t-shirts, beer Koozies, bumper stickers, a signed poster, and mugshot mugs.

Cheung revealed that contributions from individuals who purchased merchandise or made voluntary donations skyrocketed, particularly following Trump’s tweet. As a result, these additional contributions have propelled the campaign’s total fundraising to nearly $20 million over the past three weeks. Trump himself had already faced felony charges in Washington since early August, related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which ultimately led to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Simultaneously, Trump’s political operation has exhausted tens of millions of dollars in legal fees, as he faces charges across four separate jurisdictions. Recent campaign finance filings indicate that while Trump raised over $53 million in the first half of 2023, during which his first two criminal indictments served as a rallying cry and boosted fundraising, his political committees have disbursed at least $59.2 million to more than 100 lawyers and law firms since January 2021.

Source: AP