Trump spins legal woes into donation gold. Less left for GOP? – By Simon Montlake (CS Monitor) / Apr 11 2023
When Donald Trump flew to New York last week to face criminal charges, he was ready – and so was the MAGA merchandise. For $47, supporters could buy a white T-shirt printed with “Not Guilty” above a mug shot of the former president with the date of his April 4 arraignment.
The mug shot was fake, as was Mr. Trump’s purported height on the wall chart, which added two inches to his 6’ 3” frame. But the indictment’s impact on the former president’s coffers has been undeniably real.
His campaign said last week it had raised $12 million since the indictment was announced on March 30, a haul that was nearly as much as in the prior three months. Every day, supporters are bombarded with digital solicitations that claim Mr. Trump is the victim of a Democratic plot designed to stop him returning to the White House. “Our nation is becoming a Marxist Third World country,” says one, “that CRIMINALIZES dissent and IMPRISONS its political opposition.”
By fundraising off his legal perils, Mr. Trump has already blurred the line between politics and the law. But the spiraling cost of preparing criminal defenses in multiple jurisdictions, from New York to Georgia, as well as potential federal cases, could yet test Mr. Trump’s unparalleled ability to tap his supporters for money. Should he prevail in the GOP presidential primary, his legal bills in 2024 could sow trouble for Republicans who saw his “Make America Great Again” candidates as a drag on midterm tickets and resented his parsimonious spending in battleground races.
