Minutes after Donald Trump’s conviction Thursday in New York, the Republican’s campaign site began redirecting Internet users to a fundraising page on which he prides himself on being a “political prisoner.”
“I have just been convicted in a rigged political trial akin to a witch hunt: I did nothing wrong,” proclaims the ex-president.
“They raided my house, arrested me, took my mugshot, and now they have just convicted me,” adds his message.
The fundraising page was no longer functional after just a few minutes, however, following a potentially massive influx of Donald Trump supporters onto the WinRed donation platform.
“The American people are very lucid in the face of the sham lawsuit brought by this crook Joe Biden. So many Americans felt touched and wanted to donate to President Trump’s campaign that the WinRed site went down,” Donald Trump’s campaign team said on X.
The site remained down for almost an hour.
The verdict makes Donald Trump the first former US president to be criminally convicted, but does not prevent him from campaigning or potentially being elected on November 5. He should receive his sentence before then, on July 11.
His Democratic rival Joe Biden, who was reluctant to discuss the trial in New York, also sought to take advantage of the billionaire’s conviction to raise funds.
“There is only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box”launched the outgoing president’s campaign team on X, shortly after the verdict. “Donate to our campaign today”adds the publication.
Donald Trump regularly describes his legal setbacks as a battle against the forces of evil that are the “deep state” – a nebulous entity which according to followers of conspiracy theories acts behind the scenes of the government – and the Biden administration.
The Republican likes to portray himself as a martyr to the cause, ready to sacrifice his freedom for the good of his supporters.
In April, he made the link between his situation and that of Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist who remained imprisoned for 27 years. The billionaire had shortly before pushed the comparison to Jesus Christ.
Joe Biden’s campaign team then declared: “Can you imagine being so self-centered that you come to compare yourself to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela in the space of less than a week?”
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