Former President Donald Trump has raised almost $20 million in the last three weeks, coinciding with his indictment on state and federal cases connected to his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, said Trump’s campaign spokesman Saturday.
Since Trump’s appearance on Thursday to have his mug shot taken in a fraud and racketeering case in Atlanta, Georgia, the former president brought in $7.1 million, Steven Cheung, Trump spokesman, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Friday, said Cheung, Trump brought in $4.18 million, resulting in the highest-grossing day for his campaign so far.
His mug shot, posted by the Georgia courthouse Thursday evening, has been turned into T-shirts, mugs, shot glasses, bumper stickers, posters, and bobblehead dolls by allies and foes alike.
The mugshot of the former president wearing a red tie and an icy scowl was taken as the GOP presidential front-runner was arrested on over a dozen felony charges, part of a criminal case that stems from his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Former President Trump was elected president in 2016 but lost the presidency to Joe Biden in 2020. He is seeking the GOP Party’s nomination for president.
Trump faces four indictments, including two related to claims the election was stolen and the January 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The former president has denied all charges.
On August 3, he pleaded not guilty to charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in federal court in Washington that he conspired to defraud the United States by preventing Congress from certifying Biden’s 2020 election victory over him and trying to deprive voters of a fair election.
Trump has also pleaded not guilty to keeping classified documents unlawfully after leaving office and falsifying business records in a New York case related to the “hush money” payment made to former stripper and porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Fundraising committee quickly starts selling merchandise with a mug shot
Less than two hours after former President Donald Trump left the Fulton County, Georgia, jail, his joint fundraising committee quickly began selling merchandise featuring his mug shot.
The former president left Fulton County Jail at 7:55 p.m. on Thursday after authorities took his booking photo. By 9:22 p.m., the image had been released, and the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee began selling merchandise with Trump’s mug shot and the words “Never surrender.”
Mug shot products range from $12 for a bumper sticker to $36 for long-sleeve T-shirts.
The former president has ramped up fundraising with his latest surrender. In a fundraising email, he said he “walked into the lion’s den with one simple message on behalf of our entire movement: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER TO OUR MISSION TO SAVE AMERICA.”
Before the photo was taken, Trump and his aides discussed what the mug shot would look like. Ultimately, the former president wanted to look “defiant” in the face of charges he believes are politically motivated.
In the former president’s first post to X, formerly Twitter, in two-and-a-half years, Trump posted his mug shot.
Before boarding his plane, Trump Force One, back to New Jersey, Trump told reporters he and his co-defendants “did nothing wrong” and called it “a very sad day for America.”
The former president has made his indictments into a rallying cry for his supporters and claimed repeatedly the charges are politically motivated.
