Kathianne
06-25-2024, 10:56 PM
https://www.thefp.com/p/theyre-voting-for-trump-to-save-democracy
They’re Voting for Trump to ‘Save Democracy’‘The 2016 version of myself would have hated this version of myself.’
By Olivia Reingold Francesca Block and Rupa Subramanya
June 2, 2024
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Last Thursday, Donald Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.
As the news broke, cheers reportedly erupted in President Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters. Within minutes, Biden had swooped in for donations on social media: “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,” he wrote on X. “Donate to our campaign today.”
But many Americans had a different impression of the Trump verdict: that his conviction was proof of corruption, not justice. And while a snap poll showed that 54 percent of registered voters “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of the guilty verdict, more than a third of voters said they “strongly” or “somewhat” disapproved.
Meanwhile, as media analysts were busy celebrating the verdict, with ABC’s chief White House correspondent calling it a “political gift to Democrats,” searches for “donate to Trump” spiked on Google. So many people were rushing to Trump’s fundraising page that the site temporarily crashed. By the next morning, his campaign announced that nearly $35 million had poured in overnight—almost 30 percent of which appeared to come from first-time Trump donors. By late Friday, the campaign stated that the total had climbed to nearly $53 million.
Who are these sudden supporters? We wanted to find out. Here, seven people tell us how they made the journey from Never Trump to Trump Now.
Shaun Maguire: “The Republican Party is less of a danger to democracy than the Democratic Party right now.”...
They’re Voting for Trump to ‘Save Democracy’‘The 2016 version of myself would have hated this version of myself.’
By Olivia Reingold Francesca Block and Rupa Subramanya
June 2, 2024
Like
Comment
Share
Last Thursday, Donald Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.
As the news broke, cheers reportedly erupted in President Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters. Within minutes, Biden had swooped in for donations on social media: “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,” he wrote on X. “Donate to our campaign today.”
But many Americans had a different impression of the Trump verdict: that his conviction was proof of corruption, not justice. And while a snap poll showed that 54 percent of registered voters “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of the guilty verdict, more than a third of voters said they “strongly” or “somewhat” disapproved.
Meanwhile, as media analysts were busy celebrating the verdict, with ABC’s chief White House correspondent calling it a “political gift to Democrats,” searches for “donate to Trump” spiked on Google. So many people were rushing to Trump’s fundraising page that the site temporarily crashed. By the next morning, his campaign announced that nearly $35 million had poured in overnight—almost 30 percent of which appeared to come from first-time Trump donors. By late Friday, the campaign stated that the total had climbed to nearly $53 million.
Who are these sudden supporters? We wanted to find out. Here, seven people tell us how they made the journey from Never Trump to Trump Now.
Shaun Maguire: “The Republican Party is less of a danger to democracy than the Democratic Party right now.”...