Former President Trump is heading to Democratic-majority California on Thursday night to begin a three-day fundraising drive for his 2024 reelection challenge to President Biden.
The former president will be headlining a fundraising dinner hosted by tech investors David Sachs and Chamath Palihapitiya, Silicon Valley powerhouses and co-hosts of the popular podcast “All In.”
Tickets for the sold-out event range from $50,000 per person to $500,000 for one couple to get special admission as part of the organizing committee. Sources told Fox News that the event is sold out.
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Former President Trump arrived at Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday after being found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his criminal trial. (Felipe Ramares for Fox News Digital)
“This is very telling. I never would have expected a fundraiser targeted at tech leaders and Republican candidates in Pacific Heights to be sold out,” Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican National Committee member from California, told Fox News.
Dillon, a longtime Bay Area-based lawyer and member of President Trump’s legal coalition, attended the fundraiser.
Trump’s criminal conviction sparks fundraising surge
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a Trump ally and potential vice presidential candidate in 2024, who worked for a technology hedge fund in the San Francisco area several years ago, was instrumental in raising the big money.
Trump will head south to Beverly Hills for a fundraiser on Friday and a financial event in Newport Beach, Orange County on Saturday.
Former President Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey on May 11. (Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The visit doesn’t mean the Trump campaign thinks overwhelmingly Democratic California is a contender.
Rather, Trump’s move, along with two sold-out fundraisers hosted by Vice President Harris in the Bay Area on Wednesday and one for President Biden in the San Francisco area last month, is the latest evidence that California remains a key ATM for campaign cash.
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The Trump campaign said Monday that it and the Republican National Committee raised a staggering $141 million in May, thanks in part to the former president’s criminal conviction.
President Trump is the first former and current president in U.S. history to be convicted of all 34 felony counts at trial.
The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours after Thursday night’s ruling, it and the Republican National Committee raised nearly $53 million, which was added to May’s total.
President Biden and Vice President Harris shake hands during a campaign event at Girard College in Philadelphia on May 29. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Biden campaign has also used Trump’s ruling to raise funds, with a source familiar with the matter telling Fox News that “the 24 hours after the ruling were one of the most fundraising hours the Biden campaign has had since launching its campaign.”
Trump has been trying to close the fundraising gap with Biden, and in April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee outraised Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee for the first time.
Also Wednesday, Make America Great Again, a leading super PAC supporting the Trump campaign, announced it raised about $70 million in May.
Fundraising, along with polls, is a key indicator of the strength of candidates and their campaigns. Money raised can be used to bolster grassroots and get-out-the-vote efforts, human resources, travel, advertising, and more.
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