Former President Donald Trump received significant support from both large and small donors this month, especially following his conviction on 34 felony charges in a New York court last week. The former president also received the support of a number of Silicon Valley investors, he said.
Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have each raised millions since the verdict was announced. In the days following the ruling, the Trump campaign reported more than $50 million in donations.
The RNC also recently stated that about one-third of the donors were brand new. A significant portion were also small-dollar donors, as well.
The scale of the fundraising push was described by businessman David Sacks. Sacks told Fox Business this week that key business leaders decided to fundraise on Trump’s behalf. The original goal was $5 million.
Sacks said that there was initial doubt over whether that much could be raised in Silicon Valley, which he called “sort of a liberal bastion.”
The event raised $12 million for Trump on Thursday.
Trump hailed both Sacks and Chamath Paliphapitiya for hosting the event.
“These are brilliant guys — AI guys — these are the guys that are doing all the things you read about,” Trump said. “These are just a brilliant group of people. And they can’t relate to Biden because he is a stupid person — and I have a high IQ.”
“They don’t like dealing with an IQ that’s like, you know, 1/3 of theirs, because it is a difficult thing when someone has an IQ of 180, it is difficult to deal with a man with an IQ of 70 — or maybe lower,” Trump added. “Biden is a very low IQ individual.”
Separately, the former president is planning to hold a traditional fundraiser in California.
Donald Trump is visiting Southern California this weekend during his first major campaign fundraiser swing.https://t.co/eLKmKJJGLI pic.twitter.com/C6kl1nZJLj
— KTLA (@KTLA) June 8, 2024
Trump has received considerable support from other tech and finance leaders. While Trump has received considerable open support, it also appears that other tech leaders may be supporting Trump quietly.
This is a significant reversal from Trump’s first campaign in 2016. That year, Trump trailed behind fundraising to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and instead relied on rallies and direct events with voters.
Despite the financial difference, Trump’s campaign strategy worked and helped him win a number of key swing states.
