Trump launches grassroots voter outreach program after New York trial

A day after former President Trump was convicted in his New York hush money case, his campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) are launching a major grassroots voter outreach program in key battleground states.

The “Trump Force 47” program plans to engage tens of thousands of volunteers with “neighbor-to-neighbor” organizing as the former president prepares for a November rematch against President Biden. 

The joint effort from the Trump campaign and the RNC will lean on state and local parties as well as organize at the precinct level, according to a release. Supporters can become a “Trump Force 47 Captain” or get trained and shifted as a poll watcher, according to RNC chair Michael Whatley.

The launch comes just a day after Trump became the first former president convicted of a felony, a decision the presumptive GOP nominee and his supporters have decried as rigged.

“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people, and they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said Thursday after the verdict.

Biden, whom Trump is set to face on Election Day, said Friday that “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible” to call the matter rigged “just because they don’t like the verdict.”

Some experts predicted in the run-up to a verdict that a conviction could actually give fuel to Trump’s framing of the race as rigged and energize his base — and Republicans have rushed to defend the former president and echo his claims about a politically motivated result.

Trump’s campaign reported a $35 million fundraising haul after the verdict, and the Republicans’ House and Senate campaign arms both posted their best single-day online fundraising hauls of the cycle. 

Trump outraised Biden in April, but the incumbent has the advantage in cash on hand. New polling has also put the former president ahead in swing states, and The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s latest polling averages put Trump up 1.5 points nationally.

“Trump voters and Republicans are more motivated than ever to do their part to defend President Trump from Joe Biden and his band of corrupt liberals while supporting his mission to save our country from destruction,” Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement, adding that the former president’s bid will “continue capitalizing on the unprecedented momentum” through the new program.