Wealthy supporters of Donald Trump stood by him even as a New York jury deliberated over his fate. Leading Wall Street backers, such as Stephen Schwarzman, the founder of Blackstone, made the decision to strongly support Donald Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, following his conviction on Thursday on 34 criminal charges. Endorsing a felon is a far different matter from supporting a candidate who may cut taxes and regulation. It is collective greed that is on trial now with his historic conviction.
Trump became the first American president to be found guilty of a felony, having been charged with concealing payments to a porn performer. Judge Juan Merchan scheduled the sentencing for July 11, four days prior to the opening of the Republican National Convention, which is almost guaranteed to officially declare Trump as the candidate. Trump stated that he was going to file an appeal.
Donors who had earlier declared their disinterest in supporting Trump have come back. After urging the GOP to select a different candidate on several occasions, Schwarzman finally told Axios last week that he would support Trump. This Monday, a group connected to casino mogul Miriam Adelson announced that it would contribute approximately $100 million to Trump's campaign. Bill Ackman, the manager of a hedge fund, may also support Trump, according to a report just before the trial.
Despite having larger campaign funds than President Joe Biden, Trump and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $76 million in April — roughly 50% more than the expected nomination from the Democrats and the party's affiliated organizations raised in a similar amount of time. The majority of the funds that Trump just raised came from a pricey eventin Palm Beach, Florida, that millionaire John Paulson hosted.
During his two previous campaigns for president, a similar group of people supported Trump. His character raised many problems, but they were disregarded in favor of an ostensibly pro-business goal. A criminal conviction adds more justification for caution because it may result in a jail sentence. However, the nation is also more divided than before: according to Pew Research, an increasing proportion of Republicans and Democrats view the opposition party as unethical, dishonest, and narrow-minded.
This divide helps with de-stigmatizing illegal conduct. As a matter of fact, Trump has made good use of his time in New York during his criminal trial, managing to attend multimillion-dollar charity functions and defend himself against felonies. Any contributions made at this time will go some way to normalizing criminal activity and demonstrate how willingly the wealthy are to overlook it.