Trump raised $7.1 million after Georgia booking, mugshot

 

EXCLUSIVE

Trump raised $7.1 million after Georgia booking, mugshot

 

The former president raised $4.18 million on Friday alone, the single-highest 24 hour period of his campaign to date.

 

By ALEX ISENSTADT

08/26/2023 06:18 PM EDT

Updated: 08/26/2023 07:10 PM EDT

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/26/trump-mugshot-fundraising-00113118

 

Donald Trump has turned his Georgia mugshot into a record-breaking fundraising haul.

 

The former president has raised $7.1 million since he was booked at an Atlanta jail Thursday evening, according to figures provided first to POLITICO by his campaign. On Friday alone, Trump raised $4.18 million, making it the single-highest 24-hour period of his campaign to date, according to a person familiar with the totals.

 

The campaign’s fundraising has been powered by merchandise it has been selling through his online store. After Trump was taken into custody, the campaign began selling shirts, posters, bumper stickers and beverage coolers bearing Trump’s scowling mugshot. The items bear the tagline “NEVER SURRENDER!” and range in price from $12 to $34.

 

The campaign has also been prodding online donors with emails and text messages. And on Thursday night, while flying back from Atlanta to Bedminster, N.J. Trump sent out his first tweet in more than two years directing supporters to his website. The site’s landing page includes the mugshot and asks 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.”

 

The fundraising blitz illustrates how Trump has parlayed his four indictments into campaign cash, rallying his hardcore supporters.

 

Trump’s campaign says it has raised nearly $20 million in the last three weeks, during which time Trump was indicted on charges related to his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and for trying to overturn the Georgia vote count in the 2020 election. That figure is more than half of what Trump raised during his first seven months in the 2024 race.

 

Private, non-political organizations have also been trying to monetize the mugshot. Barstool Sports, a prominent sports and pop culture website, for instance, has been selling its own Trump mugshot t-shirts for $32.