The guilty verdict handed to former president Donald Trump has fired up Republican megadonors casing them to pledge millions of dollars to support him.
Trump is the first convicted felon running for the US presidency.
Politically persecuted
A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment. The payment was given to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
Many conservative donors viewed the hush money case as political persecution. They echo the Republican presidential candidate’s claim that Democrats are trying to weaken him ahead of the November 5 election.
Prosecutors have dismissed those claims as untrue.
Casino billionaire Miriam Adelson and hotelier Robert Bigelow lined up behind Trump. Their donations will boost pro-Trump ads in battleground states.
Financial support
The verdict also spurred some longtime Trump donors to boost their financial support for Trump. Many will make a big donation to him for the first time.
Robert Bigelow is one of Trump’s top supporters. He has already given over $9 million to an outside group supporting him and will send another $5 million more.
Bigelow said the criminal proceedings against Trump were a “disgrace.”
Victim of the justice system
Silicon Valley tech investor Shaun Maguire, posted on social media site X after the verdict that he had donated $300,000 to support Trump.
“I believe our justice system is being weaponised against him.”
Maguire described himself as a former Hillary Clinton supporter who switched to Trump in 2021. This was because of the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Maguire said he had not previously donated to Trump.
Donors interviewed by Reuters said they were confident that Trump would win. They based their reasoning on the opinion polls in battleground states. Most of them said they did not care about the trial verdict.
With inputs from Reuters
