It didn’t take long on Thursday for the Trump campaign’s donation page to crash after the guilty verdict was announced due to the high volume of visitors that immediately came to show their support for the former president.
The amount raised, particularly among grassroots supporters, will likely be one for the books. But how will the verdict affect GOP megadonors?
“I haven’t heard anybody who gives a s---,” said New York businessman and Republican donor Andy Sabin, when asked whether major GOP contributors he knows care about the verdict in Trump’s trial.
Many of the party’s wealthiest donors tell CNBC they plan to stay in Trump’s corner, despite him being found guilty in New York on all 34 felony counts.
The donor sentiment represents a shift for some Republican megadonors, who initially looked for an alternative to Trump during the party’s presidential primary, driven by a belief that the the former president’s legal problems would fatally weaken his campaign to replace President Joe Biden.
Now, “There is zero care about that,” a longtime Republican fundraiser told CNBC. “A year ago, maybe [the trials mattered]. Now, none.” (CNBC)
Thus far, the former president’s legal troubles have been fundraising boons, with his campaign and the RNC outpacing President Biden’s campaign and the DNC in April, $76 million to $51 million.
Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said those figures were “especially remarkable when you consider he has been confined to a courtroom for nearly 9 hours a day over the past four weeks fighting against Biden's Trial.”
The 45th president also brought in tens of millions at private fundraisers with GOP megadonors in recent weeks, some of whom told CNBC how much this verdict will backfire on Democrats.
Texas businessman and former Trump administration official Ray Washburne co-hosted an event in Dallas for Trump on May 22.
Washburne told CNBC the event raised $10 million for the Trump 47 Committee, which raises money for the Trump campaign, Trump’s political action committee Save America, the Republican National Committee and dozens of state parties.
He called Trump’s trial in New York “frivolous” and “absurd,” adding, “Trump will have no problem raising money.”
Omeed Malik, the president of 1789 Capital and a Trump bundler, told CNBC he believes the guilty verdict “will completely backfire just like the indictments, which actually boosted his [Trump’s] support.”
Malik co-hosted a Trump fundraiser in New York on May 14 that raised over $10 million.
A guilty verdict is a “non-issue,” said David Tamasi, a Republican fundraiser and a managing director at lobbying firm Chartwell Strategy Group.
“I think if somebody had told you after Jan. 6 that the country would be where it is today, it would’ve been hard to get your head around that,” said Tamasi. He pointed to issues he’s had with Biden’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Venture capitalist David Sacks, who is co-hosting an event for Trump in June, posted on X a message of support for the former president after the verdict was read. “Trump has a lot of supporters in Silicon Valley; many are just afraid to admit it. But with each act of courage, like this one, the dam begins to break,” said Sacks. (CNBC)
The report also pointed to Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, who was harshly critical of Trump after Jan. 6 but changed his tune this week, announcing the former president has his support.
"I share the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction," the billionaire said. "For these reasons, I am planning to vote for change and support Donald Trump for President. In addition, I will be supporting Republican Senate candidates and other Republicans up and down the ticket."
