Donald Trump’s presidential campaign raised substantially more money than Joe Biden’s last month, new figures show.
The Republican candidate received £111m in contributions during May – with tens of millions sent after he was convicted of falsifying business records.
A New York jury found Trump guilty of covering up a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels – with one billionaire donating £39.5m after the verdict was reached.
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Trump’s campaign has refused to confirm how much cash it has in the bank, prompting critics to suggest the embattled politician is spending heavily on legal fees.
By contrast, Mr Biden raised £67m in May – about 40% less – with official records showing the Democrats have £167m on hand for the election battle.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who manages the Biden campaign, said: “The money we continue to raise matters, and it’s helping the campaign build out an operation that invests in reaching and winning the voters who will decide this election – a stark contrast to Trump’s PR stunts and photo ops that he’s pretending is a campaign.”
The latest figures show how the rules of US politics are changing. While a presidential candidate would have once had to bow out of the race after being convicted of felonies, Trump’s verdict led to a surge in financial support.
He will now likely use this cash to ramp up advertising and attempt to appeal to voters in swing states as November’s ballot draws closer.
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Fundraising data for June is yet to emerge – with a glitzy fundraiser attended by film stars and former president Barack Obama netting over £23m for the Democrats last weekend.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has also donated £15m to pro-Biden groups, and formally endorsed the sitting president on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Trump has been increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies as he attempts to fill his campaign war chest.
He once described Bitcoin as a “scam” with value based on thin air – but in a sharp U-turn, has now declared he wants to be the “crypto president” and support the industry.
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Trump is the first major candidate in a US election to accept crypto donations – and earlier this week, there were unsubstantiated rumours he had launched his own digital asset, causing demand for “TrumpCoin” to surge.
On Thursday, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss – crypto billionaires best known for accusing Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for Facebook from them – donated £1.6m in Bitcoin to Trump, describing him as “pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto and pro-business”.
