Trump raked in $9.4 million as his campaign sold tens of thousands of mugshot t-shirts and coffee mugs
Insider/Trump Save America JFC
- Donald Trump's campaign has raked in $9.4 million since his historic mugshot was released.
- The former president's campaign has sold over $1 million in t-shirts emblazoned with the mugshot.
- The haul is another example of how Trump has tried to use his legal struggles to his advantage.
Donald Trump's campaign has raked in nearly $9.4 million since the Fulton County Sheriff's office released his historic mugshot, leading the former president to emblazon his glaring gaze on everything from t-shirts to koozies.
According to Trump's campaign, this fundraising haul led to the outfit raising nearly $20 million in August, a sum that comes after his campaign previously showed some financial stress as it shelled out roughly $20 million in legal fees in the first half of the year.
As expected, the former president and his allies have used the historic moment to the fullest extent possible. The Fulton County Sheriff's Office released the image of Trump less than a week ago.
His campaign store has an entire page of products that showcase his mugshot. Of that special merchandise, they sold 36,000 T-shirts for more than $1.7 million. (There are three different short-sleeve versions, including one that invokes the famous Obama "Hope" Shepard Fairey poster from the 2008 cycle.) That wasn't all. Supporters bought another 24,000 coffee mugs, which brought in $864,000. The campaign also sold 8,600 mugshot posters for another $352,000.
A Trump spokesperson confirmed the numbers, which were first reported by Fox News, to Insider. The spokesperson also confirmed that the funds were "earmarked" for political activity and would not be used for legal fees.
Trump, who has shown a preternatural talent to generate small-dollar donations, has frequently found a way to hawk merchandise that resonates in the moment. His red "Make America Great Again" hat is easily one of the most ubiquitous pieces of political paraphernalia in modern times. Trump's 2020 campaign even made just shy of $500,000 by trolling liberals who wanted to ban plastic straws.
The former president maintains a commanding lead over the rest of the 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls. According to FiveThirtyEight's weighted tracker, Trump has a 34.4 percentage point lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in national polling. DeSantis is the only other candidate in double digits. Conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who made himself the focal point of the first GOP debate, is almost there at 9.9%.