How Donald Trump’s Conviction Helped Boost Support for Him from Republicans and Wall Street Billionaires

Politico revealed that former President Donald Trump's conviction in the New York state hush money case contributed to the solidarity of most Republican Party leaders and voters with him.

Trump’s campaign revealed that it received nearly $52.8 million in financial donations during the first 24 hours after the conviction.

A number of Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress also criticized the conviction, considering that it served political goals.

Several major Republican donors also said they would continue to donate to Trump's campaign despite the conviction.

Trump is now backed by JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, and hedge fund tycoon Kenneth Griffin.

It is expected that the conviction and its repercussions will dominate the first debate between President Joe Biden and Trump on the 27th of this month.

Biden will use the ruling against Trump to strengthen his arguments that Trump does not care about the Constitution and American institutions.

It is noteworthy that attention has now turned to Hunter Biden’s prosecution, the president's son, which may provide Republicans with an opportunity to attack the Democrats and compare the two prosecutions.

Trump’s Conviction 

On May 30, Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally convicted, after a New York court jury found him guilty of all 34 counts charged against him in a case of forging documents with the aim of concealing a sum of money he paid to buy the silence of a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.

It is expected that the ruling against the former U.S. President will be issued on July 11, that is, a few days before the Republican National Convention, scheduled to be held from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee, which may negatively or positively affect the Republican Party with swing voters.

Despite the conviction, Trump will nevertheless be able to continue his election campaign to return to the White House, also becoming the first Republican Party candidate to run in the presidential race while he is convicted.

Trump theoretically faces prison time, as New York state law punishes falsifying accounting documents with a maximum of four years in prison.

Trump commented on the court's decision by saying: “This was a disgrace. It was an outrageous and rigged prosecution.”

He considered that the real ruling will be issued by voters on November 5, the scheduled date for the presidential elections.

Trump enjoys significant Republican support despite his various criminal cases, which amount to 91 charges in four criminal cases, which enabled him to sweep the Republican Party primaries.

Strategists from both parties questioned whether the ruling would have a significant impact on the presidential race, while some Trump supporters in online posts called for revolution, riots, and a violent response.

Trump still faces three more criminal prosecutions, 2 over his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, but the ruling in the ongoing case may be the only one issued before the election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases, which he says are politically motivated.

A source familiar with his election campaign indicated that the latest ruling may prompt Trump to choose a woman as his vice president.

If Trump is successful in the upcoming election, he could close the two federal cases accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents after leaving office in 2021, but he will not have the authority to stop a separate case on charges of subverting the election in Georgia.

Political Prosecution

The Wall Street Journal highlighted that Trump and his Republican Party are intensifying their criticism of the American judicial system, raising the already deteriorating political atmosphere, at a time when the feeling of distrust in democratic institutions is growing among Americans.

A poll last year revealed that 43% of Americans have little confidence in the criminal justice system, compared to 31% in 2015, that is before Trump took office.

The newspaper reported that Trump saw his conviction, by a jury in Manhattan, as evidence that Biden’s allies from the Democratic Party are using the courts to try to harm Trump’s candidacy for the White House again.

Senior elected Republicans across the country raced to Donald Trump’s side following his criminal conviction — even those who have criticized him openly in the past.

They sought to direct their supporters toward fundraising, activism, and a commitment to vote President Joe Biden out of office next November.

Speaker Mike Johnson went beyond defending the former president, taking the unusual step of calling for the Supreme Court to intervene in Trump’s appeal.

“President Trump is no longer just an individual. He is now a symbol. He is a symbol of fighting back against this corruption of our system and the deep state and all the rest,” said Johnson. 

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan made clear that he would take new steps to investigate the team that got the conviction in New York, writing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to seek his Capitol Hill testimony on the political prosecution of Trump.

GOP senator Mitch McConnell, whose relationship with Trump unraveled after he congratulated President Joe Biden for winning in 2020, posted on social media night that he expects the former president’s appeal to succeed — without directly mentioning Trump.

Even Sen. Susan Collins, who supported the former president’s second impeachment, issued a statement criticizing the decision to bring the case.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska called the verdict a sad day for the country.

Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota, and Rick Scott of Florida offered their support for Trump, who could try to influence the closed-door election.

“There is now only one issue in this election: whether the American people will stand for the U.S. becoming a Banana Republic,” tweeted tech investor David Sacks.

Potential attorney general pick Mike Davis told Axios he wants GOP prosecutors in Georgia and Florida to open criminal probes into Democrats for conspiring to interfere in the election by indicting Trump.

“This is a battle of good versus evil,” declared Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“This will not stop Trump. He will win the election if he is not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world,” claimed Tucker Carlson.

Several House Republicans posted images of flags carried by pro-Trump protesters during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including an upside-down American flag shared by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Wall Street Billionaires

After his historic prosecution and recent conviction, a number of very wealthy Republican donors rallied around former U.S. President Donald Trump, declaring that he would remain their choice for the White House.

While Trump trails behind U.S. President Joe Biden in Democrats' fundraising efforts, the conviction has injected new life into his election bid.

Trump’s campaign announced that it had raised nearly $52.8 million in the 24 hours after the conviction, according to the BBC.

Israeli-American casino billionaire Miriam Adelson is expected to announce millions of dollars in support for Trump's campaign this week, according to the BBC.

In the hours following his conviction last week, a number of billionaires in the United States announced their support for Trump via social media.

Among them was Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, who posted on X that “there is now only one issue in this election: whether the American people will stand for the U.S. becoming a Banana Republic.”

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is expected to announce his support for Trump in the coming days.

Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman — one of the most prominent billionaires on Wall Street —  has already announced his support for Trump in the election. 

Among prominent billionaires who have thrown their support behind Trump so far include hedge fund founders John Paulson and Robert Mercer, as well as fracking pioneer Harold Hamm and casino mogul Steve Wynn.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has had a change of heart and hosted the former president at his oceanfront Florida mansion in March.

On the other hand, Elon Musk has previously said he will not be donating to either candidate this electoral cycle, although he does plan to host a live-streamed town-hall-style event with Trump.

Similarly, billionaire tech financier and prominent Republican donor Peter Thiel has reportedly turned down requests to donate to the Trump campaign and was said not to be planning any contributions this electoral cycle.

Shaun Maguire, a partner at prominent venture capital firm Sequoia, announced a $300,000 donation to Trump within minutes of last week's verdict, arguing that the trial was unfair. 

But despite all the fundraising, Professor Justin Buchler, a campaign finance expert from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the BBC: “Money is not going to be determinative.”

“The primary role of money in a campaign is to increase name recognition. Everybody already knows who Donald Trump and Joe Biden are,” he added.

A review of data from CBS, the BBC's US partner, has found that Trump's fundraising tends to enjoy a boost during key moments in his various legal battles.