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By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee said on Monday they had raised $141 million in May, nearly doubling the prior month's haul thanks to a flood of support following his conviction.
The tally includes the $53 million the Trump campaign said it raised in the 24 hours after a New York jury convicted the former president of falsifying business records related to a payoff to silence a porn star on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. Trump had denied any wrongdoing.
For months, Trump and his allies had worked to paint the New York prosecution as politically motivated and orchestrated by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, even though there is no evidence that Biden played any role in the state-level case.
In a statement, the campaign and the RNC said the fundraising showed that supporters saw through "the sham Biden trial" and the verdict had outraged and motivated Americans.
Up until the past few months, Biden's re-election campaign had routinely surpassed Trump's in fundraising ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Trump for the first time in April outraised Biden, pulling in $76 million.
The Biden campaign, which has not yet announced its fundraising total for May, had one of its best 24 hours of fundraising after the New York jury found Trump guilty, according to a person familiar with the matter.
"We'll see how the numbers actually shake out come July, but one thing’s for certain: Trump’s billionaire friends are propping up the campaign of a white collar crook," Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said.
The Trump campaign and RNC said they received more than two million donations at an average of $70.27 each in May. It said one quarter of the month's donors gave funds for the first time in this election cycle.
The numbers will not be confirmed until filings are submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
(reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; additional reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco and Nandita Bose in WashingtonEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Deepa Babington)
