Americans have poured more than $70 million into Republican and Trump campaign war chests after the guilty verdict this week, which may or may not go to Trump legal fees but will definitely be used to defeat the political persecutors, according to Lara Trump.
"The American people have really spoken up, and, Kasie, they have spoken with their wallets and pocketbooks — even at a time where the economy is in such bad shape thanks to horrific policies by Joe Biden," Lara Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of the former president, told CNN's "State of the Union" guest host Kasie Hunt.
"The American people came out and, in 48 hours after Donald Trump's verdict was read, our campaign and the RNC raised $70 million in digital fundraising.
"This is small-dollar donations," she added, astonished that 30% came from first-time Trump donors.
"People are very upset about what they saw happen this week to someone that should never had a case brought against him," she continued.
"We all know that if his name had been anything other than Donald Trump, this case would have never seen the light of day. And what people are seeing now is they can't trust our judicial system. They are very worried about the America that we are facing, if this is the precedent we are setting in the United States."
Hunt pressed Lara Trump on how the money will be spent by the RNC and whether it will be used on Trump "legal expenses" — coincidentally the very tool Democrat prosecutors used to attain the 34-count felony conviction in the deep-blue Manhattan district.
Lara Trump noted to the CNN host those donors are potentially giving to the Trump legal fund — willfully.
"Everybody has an option whenever they donate to our joint fundraising agreement to opt out of it," Trump told Hunt. "It's a very small percentage of the money that we take in."
The amount of funds burned to fight Trump legal battles versus campaigning against Democrats and the Biden administration is left to be determined, Trump added.
"I would have to say we'll wait and see what is necessary in the future," she said. "Obviously, this has been a very costly thing, not just for Donald Trump and his campaign, but for America.
"The stain that this has put on our country, I think, is abominable. And we'll do whatever we need to do to ensure that the right thing happens on Nov. 5, because that's when the ultimate verdict will be rendered."
Hunt attempted to press Lara Trump on whether Trump backers should protest, but she noted Trump backers will protest via vote.
"They are going to do what they have done from the very beginning, which is remain calm and protest at the ballot box on Nov. 5," she said.
"They shouldn't do anything until voting starts and they're going to come out in droves and then I think Donald Trump will be reelected as the 47th president."
She did admit the RNC and the Republican National Convention are making "several contingency plans" in the event Democrat-donating Judge Juan Merchan sentences Donald Trump to prison or house arrest June 11, just days before the nominating convention June 15.
"Everybody can read into the irony of that," Lara Trump said of the sentencing date, suggesting Trump's acceptance speech is potentially going to be given remote from Trump Tower in Manhattan or Mar-a-Lago if he is under house arrest.
"We have to be ready for anything," she concluded. "As we have seen, all bets are off when it comes to Donald Trump."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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