The day after former President Trump was convicted in a New York hush-money case, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a massive grassroots voter outreach program in key battleground states.
“Trump Force 47” The program plans to mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers for “neighbor-to-neighbor” organizing as the former president prepares for a rematch with President Biden in November.
The joint effort between the Trump campaign and the RNC will involve reaching out to state and local parties and organizing at the precinct level, according to the announcement. According to RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, supporters will become “Trump Force 47 Captains” or be trained to serve as poll workers.
The announcement came a day after Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony, a move that leading Republican candidates and their supporters have condemned as fraudulent.
“This was a rigged and dishonorable trial. The real verdict will be given by the American people on November 5th. The American people know what happened here, everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said Thursday after the verdict.
Biden, who is set to face Trump on Election Day, said Friday that it was “reckless, dangerous and irresponsible to say the election was stolen simply because you don’t like the verdict.”
Shortly before the verdict was handed down, some experts predicted a guilty verdict could galvanize Trump’s claims that the election was stolen and energize his base, and Republicans have rushed to the former president’s defense, sympathizing with his claims that the outcome was politically motivated.
The Trump campaign reported raising $35 million after the ruling, and the Republican House and Senate campaign organizations both recorded their highest single-day online fundraising totals of any election cycle.
Trump outpaced Biden in April, but the incumbent president has a cash advantage. Recent polls show him leading in battleground states, and the latest Hill/Decision Desk polling average gives him a 1.5-point lead nationally.
“Trump supporters and Republicans are more motivated than ever to do their part to protect President Trump from Joe Biden and his corrupt liberals, and to support Biden’s mission to save our country from ruin,” Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Suzie Wiles said in a statement, adding that the former president’s candidacy will “continue to capitalize on unprecedented momentum” through the new program.
