Trump supporters rally behind him after guilty verdict

Donald Trump’s supporters have come to his rescue. The former president is at a low point after a jury in New York found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records over efforts to conceal hush money paid to silence an adult film actress. Trump has become the first presidential candidate in history to be convicted in a criminal trial. The Republican candidate’s supporters are hoping the controversial former president will win the November 5 election and return to the White House.

“My civil rights have been totally violated with this highly political, unconstitutional and election interfering witch hunt. Our failing nation is being laughed at all over the world!” Trump posted on Truth Social after the jury announced its verdict.

Following the guilty verdict, the Republican fundraising site WinRed received so many visits that it crashed for a few minutes. “WinRed is down due to the overwhelming amount of support out there, all across America!” Dan Scavino, who was one of Trump’s senior advisors and is part of his inner circle, posted on X. The platform was down for only 15 minutes, with service later restored.

The Trump fundraising appeal is blunt about why the former president needs donations. It uses the mug shot taken of Trump when he was booked in Georgia in August 2023. The photograph — in which the former president appears with a defiant face — has been used by the Trump campaign as a symbol of the fight against a corrupt system in all the cases against him. The words “never surrender” appear below the image, even though it was taken after the Republican turned himself in at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Trump considers himself a political prisoner who has been convicted in a witch hunt. On the appeal, “I have done nothing wrong!” is in big red letters. A little further down, there are several options to donate to the Trump campaign. “Before the day is over, I’m calling on all ten million pro-Trump patriots to chip in.” Donations range from $20.24 to $3,300. The appeal also gives supporters the option of making a recurring donation. Statistics show that most supporters donate $200 or less.

WinRed has helped raise at least $4 million in the current electoral cycle, according to Open Secrets, a research group that tracks money in U.S. politics. The platform, based in the state of Virginia, sends donations to Trump Save America, the political action committee to help Trump get reelected. In the last two years, it received $194 million in donations, according to the same source. The money, however, goes out as quickly as it comes in. Of that amount, $184 million has been spent so far, which leaves around $10 million in the hands of the Republican candidate.

In the 2020 campaign, a third of the donations received by Trump came from retirees. WinRed has been sued at least six times because many of the people who gave money later had trouble getting the company to stop debiting their accounts. The company was taken to court for its somewhat aggressive, yet effective, fundraising tactics. In that electoral cycle, Trump raised $255 million. Between now and November, his campaign will have the chance to continue raising funds ahead of the presidential election.

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