The Washington Examiner’s Sarah Bedford contended that former President Donald Trump’s spike in support stems from casual or new voters who oppose Trump’s guilty verdict.
Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony crime after he was found guilty of all 34 counts in his hush money trial, which could hamper his bid for the White House this November. Despite this, the former president has received a massive spike in financial donations, with the Trump campaign announcing Monday that it raised $141 million alongside the Republican National Committee last month.
“Money is a pretty good metric for measuring voter excitement, especially when you’re looking at the small-dollar donations and you’re looking at people who maybe have not donated money to the Trump campaign before this moment,” Bedford said on Fox News’s Your World with Neil Cavuto. “And so I do think there are these types of indicators that this has gotten new voters activated.”
Bedford noted how several polls indicate that President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection, is leading among people who vote consistently in elections. However, these polls also show that Trump “tends to lead pretty significantly” among voters who do not keep up with politics and that these people could greatly aid him this November.
Over the weekend, Trump joined the social media platform TikTok, gaining 4 million followers over the course of two days, far outpacing the roughly 347,000 followers that Biden-Harris HQ, the Biden campaign’s account, has amassed since its launch in February. Bedford indicated that this is another “small clue” to gauge voter enthusiasm ahead of the election, and that TikTok could be an effective way to reach out to younger voters.
“By the way, Donald Trump tends to be picking up a lot of those young voters right now,” Bedford said. “He might want to press that advantage while he seems to be having it in the polls.”
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In the wake of Trump’s verdict, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) argued that the ruling has effectively united the Republican Party behind supporting the former president. He claimed he had “Never Trumpers” contact him and explain that they are now in support of Trump after the verdict.
A poll from last month indicated that younger voters trust Trump more than Biden in addressing the topics of reducing prices and border security. Of those polled in the survey, both inflation and the economy were cited as their most prioritized topics.