Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign got a boost after news of his historic indictment rocked the nation.

A grand jury indicted Trump Thursday over his alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle. The former president faces over 30 charges and will be arraigned in Manhattan on Tuesday. He is expected to turn himself over to authorities who will fingerprint him and take his mugshot, but for the Trump political machine, the wheels kept turning, even after he became the first ex-president to be charged with a crime.

In a press release on Friday, Trump’s team announced that the former president — who held his first 2024 campaign rally last weekend — received over $4 million in contributions in the 24 hours following his indictment.

“This incredible surge of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people see the indictment of President Trump as a disgraceful weaponization of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor,” the press release said.

The Trump campaign added that around $1 million of the $4 million in contributions came from first-time donors. After he was indicted, Trump sent an email to his supporters, referring to Bragg’s investigation as a “witch hunt” carried out by the “corrupt ruling class,” The Hill reported.

“Ever since I ran for president as a complete political outsider, the corrupt ruling class has tried to shut down our America First movement,” the email said. “The Deep State will use anything at their disposal to shut down the one political movement that puts you first.”

Conservatives rushed to defend Trump following his indictment, accusing Bragg and the Democratic Party of abusing prosecutorial power for political gain. Even some of Trump’s Republican rivals and potential 2024 opponents spoke out against the indictment, such as Trump’s former running mate Mike Pence, 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) sent a letter to the Manhattan district attorney last week, asking to interview Bragg and requesting to see documents and communications regarding his investigation of Trump.

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“In light of the serious consequences of your actions, we expect that you will testify about what plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision,” the letter said.

A majority of Americans (62%) also see Bragg’s case against Trump as “mainly motivated by politics,” according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday.

Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears (R-VA) said it was ridiculous for people to be concerned about “misgendering” the woman who murdered six people at a Christian school in Nashville this week. 

Sears made the comments during Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher” where she appeared on a panel alongside journalist and author James Kirchick. 

“This person murdered six people, I don’t really care who you say you are. You murdered six people, and three of them were children. You don’t get a say. Well, she’s dead now, but you don’t get a say in telling us who you are and what you’re about. You killed six people,” Sears said. 

"They are misgendering and dead naming the murderer. They are referring to the murderer by their given name and not their chosen name. … If someone says they're a man they're a man."

"This person murdered 6 people. I don't really care who you say you are." pic.twitter.com/AYqQ1s0wc6

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) April 1, 2023

Sears was referring to the 28-year-old woman who shot six people at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. Officials have still not announced a motive for the shooter, who identified as transgender, but they have described the shooting as targeted.

In the days following the shooting, media outlets like The New York Times and USA Today scrambled after claiming that police had “misidentified” the gender of the shooter. 

“There was confusion later on Monday about the gender identity of the assailant in the Nashville shooting,” the Times said. “Officials had used ‘she’ and ‘her’ to refer to the suspect, who, according to a social media post and a LinkedIn profile, appeared to identify as a man in recent months.”

Sears made her comments after Kirchick said that some in the media had not followed their own rules, but continued to identify the shooter as female despite the self-identification as a male.

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“If you noticed, they are misgendering and deadnaming the murderer, right. They are referring to the murderer by their given name, not their chosen name, and referring to her as a woman, as opposed to what her identity apparently was as a man, which is not the way the media usually does these things,” he said. “They are usually very particular about the subjective sense of gender identity and respecting that. If someone says they’re a man then they’re a man, but in this case they’re not doing that.”

Sears, who won an upset electoral victory in Virginia alongside Governor Glenn Youngkin, later said that parents deserved more say over the education of their children.

“I’m a parent, I’m a parent all day. I get to decide what happens in my child’s life, not you, not the government, not anybody. I don’t co-parent. I had this child, I’m responsible for this child. If anything happens to little Johnny, you’re calling me. If  I don’t want my child given lap dances at school by a drag queen, I don’t want it done.”