Liam Conner
Palm Beach, Florida – The Trump campaign told donors at a private Republican Party retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, that $76 million was raised in April between the campaign and the Republican National Committee, according to two sources who were present at the briefing.
The retreat brought together wealthy Republican Party donors and potential vice president cthe candidates Donald Trump is considering, including Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and JD Vance, Representative Elise StefanikNorth Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and South Dakota Governor. Kristi Noem.
Guests were shuttled from the Four Seasons hotel in Palm Beach to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for remarks by the former president on Saturday. He attacked the criminal charges against him and prosecutors who indicted him, according to a source present in the room. Trump referred special advisor Jack Smith as “deranged” and an “evil thug,” according to another person in the room.
“As soon as I was indicted, I said, ‘Holy shit, I just got indicted. I. Got indicted,'” the former president said.
Curtis means / Getty Images
Trump claimed Biden is “running a Gestapo administration” against him, according to the person at the fundraiser.
“And it’s the only thing they have,” Trump added. “It’s the only way they can win, in their opinion, and it’s killing them. But it doesn’t bother me.”
These quotes were previously reported by The New York Times.
There was also a panel with GOP Senate candidates Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
In a closed-door briefing held by top campaign officials and investigators, donors were told that, based on internal polling, the campaign could be competitive in Minnesota and Virginia, two states that ran for Hillary Clinton in 2016. and Biden in 2020.
Neither state is considered a battleground in 2024. Biden won Minnesota by about 7 points in 2020, and the state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. The 2020 gap was even wider in Virginia, where Biden won. by 10 points, even though the state elected Republican Glenn Youngkin as governor the following year.
Republicans aren’t the only ones setting up their sites in less obvious states. The Biden campaign and Democrats have begun campaigning more aggressively in Florida, where Trump won by about 3 points in 2020.
The fundraising numbers that the Trump campaign and the RNC announced to donors on Saturday come as the Trump campaign tries to close the fundraising gap with Democrats, who had a financial advantage of more than $. 25 million in early April.
A top Trump adviser said fundraising had “exceeded all targets” for the month.
The numbers cannot be independently confirmed by CBS until later this month, when campaigns and political groups are required to submit their monthly reports to the Federal Election Commission.
At Friday night’s dinner, which was attended by many of the senators, guests were served green salad, steak and scallops and key lime pie, according to a copy of the menu obtained by CBS. On Saturday night, guests were given “Trump 47” branded coconuts as a dessert option.
