Donald Trump was greeted by some of his adoring fans as he departed a fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills on Friday night.
Supporters could be seen gathered outside one of the areas mansions as they enthusiastically waved Trump 2024 flags as his motorcade passed by.
At one point Trump blew a kiss from the window of his SUV as his faithful followers cheered from the roadside.
Trump was in Phoenix on Thursday before heading to San Francisco where he held a fundraiser in Silicon Valley in another California stop on the campaign trail.
A supporter carrying a flag watches as the motorcade carrying former Donald Trump departs a fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills
Donald Trump is seen through the window of a car blowing a kiss as he leaves the fundraiser
In terms of polling, Trump continues to have an edge over President Joe Biden in two key swing states – Nevada and Arizona
The state is an unusual choice for Trump to campaign with California being a reliable state for Democratic presidential candidates since 1992.
Although Silicon Valley and Beverley Hills which is Hollywood adjacent are both something of a liberal haven, Republicans on a national level are looking for opportunities to make incursions with wealthy entrepreneurs and others who have leaned right since the last election in 2020.
Trump’s campaign had been hampered by his New York hush-money although he was able to made daily speeches to the waiting cameras with highly politicized statements each day he was in court.
In terms of polling, Trump continues to have an edge over President Joe Biden in two key swing states – Nevada and Arizona – but a national poll conducted after the Republican’s conviction shows the presidential race tightening.
Fox News put out new poll numbers on Thursday that showed Trump up 5 points in Arizona among registered voters – 51 percent to Biden’s 46 percent.
In nearby Nevada, Trump was also leading Biden by 5 points – 50 percent to the Democrat’s 45 percent.
Polling has shown Trump ahead of Biden in Arizona for more than a year, while Trump has been out in front of Biden in Nevada since November, according to Real Clear Politics’ polling averages – and the verdict didn’t seem to move the numbers.
In the two swing states, voters’ views on the hush money verdict were nearly identical.
Pollsters asked just two questions on the trial – whether voters thought it was fair and how much it mattered to them – the latter to signal whether it would change people’s votes.
Trump could be seen waving at his supporters gathered on the sides of the road
Trump was in Phoenix on Thursday before heading to San Francisco where he held a fundraiser in Silicon Valley in another California stop on the campaign trail
The state is an unusual choice for Trump to campaign with California being a reliable state for Democratic presidential candidates since 1992
A supporter lies in the grass as former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills
In Arizona, 63 percent said the hush money trial did not matter, while only about a third, 36 percent, said it did. Additionally, only 25 percent expressed that it mattered to them ‘a lot.’
While this could be enough to swing things back to Biden, the overall numbers don’t reflect that yet.
In Nevada, 65 percent said the hush money trial did not matter, while 35 percent said it did.
In both states, 51 percent said they believed Trump received a fair trial, while 46 percent said the Manhattan-based trial was unfair.
The New York Times on Wednesday had a clearer picture of whether any damage was done to Trump by the guilty verdict, when 2,000 voters were recontacted after being surveyed in April and May.
The verdict did change some of these people’s minds.
Originally, the New York Times/Siena College surveys found that 48 percent of these voters supported Trump while 45 percent backed Biden.
But after Trump was found guilty on all 34 courts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, pollsters found that 47 percent supported Trump, while 46 percent backed Biden.
In Nevada, 65 percent said the hush money trial did not matter, while 35 percent said it did
When The New York Times and Siena College recontacted 2000 voters from their spring survey, pollsters found that former President Donald Trump’s 3-point national lead shrunk to just 1 percent post-guilty verdict
About a quarter of Biden’s 2020 voters who told the Times’ pollsters they were going to back Trump this time around and have now come back into the fold
Trump’s 3-point lead nationally shrunk to just 1 percent.
The Times/Siena College polling found that Trump retained 93 percent of those who said they’d back him in the previous survey.
But shedding 7 percent of your voters could make a difference in a tight race.
Of those 7 percent, 3 percent said they would now be backing Biden, while the other 4 percent say they’re undecided on who they’ll vote for in the fall.
Those shifting away from Trump were young, nonwhite, disengaged and Democratic-leaning – in essence non-traditional Republican voters who are now having second thoughts.
About a quarter of Biden’s 2020 voters who told the Times’ pollsters they were going to back Trump this time around and have now come back into the fold, the new survey showed.
Additionally, so-called ‘double haters’ – voters who dislike both the Republican and the Democratic candidate – were more likely to bail.
Since last week’s verdict, Trump lost about one-fifth of the ‘double haters’ who previously said they would hold their nose and support him in the fall.