Following the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, he has received millions of dollars from his supporters. Trump has been sending out emails, capitalizing on the FBI raid by asking supporters to donate to his political action committee.
According to the Washington Post, following the FBI raid, the donations to Trump’s action committee surpassed $1 million on at least two days.
Eric Wilson, a Republican strategist, said:
“If you’re not talking about Mar-a-Lago in your fundraising you’re swimming against the current … For Trump, it’s been difficult for the last several months because he has not been in the spotlight so much. With Trump being thrust back into the spotlight, of course it’s going to be good for them from a fundraising perspective.”
Since leaving office, Trump has raised over $100 million for his PAC to spend on congressional races, as well as keep some of those donations to have a war chest for 2024 if he decides to run for President. According to the Washington Post, the PAC spent less than $5 million for Trump-endorsed candidates — David Perdue in Georgia, Harriet Hageman in Wyoming, and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania. No matter what, Trump will have no trouble raising money if and when he announces his run in 2024.
Fordham University professor Jessica Baldwin-Philippi, who researches how political campaigns use digital communications, said:
“Trump as a candidate and fundraiser has always had an impressively dedicated set of constituents who are particularly mobilized by anger … A threat, a negative, a time when you lose, can actually be lucrative.”
This could be the perfect launching pad for Trump to announce a 2024 White House bid. Several other candidates are looking to run for President, such as former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), and former United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. It would not be surprising to see Liz Cheney run in 2024 to siphon as many votes from Trump as she can.
As for the other prominent GOP figure, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) seems to have caught the eye of GOP donors and insiders, as they are favoring the Governor in 2024 if he decides to run for President. If he handily wins his gubernatorial race in November, that could set up a colossal matchup between Trump and DeSantis if both decide to run. One of them will definitely run; however, it seems unlikely, as of now, that both will run in 2024.
The important thing is that DeSantis and Trump voters unite around the nominee and defeat the far-left agenda in November 2024.