As billionaires butt out, reports suggest that “the cavalry’s not coming” for the GOP primary field as some suggest raising against the former president would be “wasting money.”
In the 2016 presidential race when Republicans like former Gov. Jeb Bush (FL) along with then-Govs. Scott Walker (WI) and John Kasich (OH) helped fill out a broad field of candidates, large donors had spent large sums fueling a challenge to then-businessman Donald Trump.
Now, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, “Billionaire business leaders like Paul Singer, Ken Griffin, Joe Ricketts and Stephen Schwarzman” aren’t making the same moves to challenge the now-former president as they appeared to be holding off until a thinning of the herd.
Speaking with the Journal, GOP strategist Ken Spain expressed, “It’s becoming clear the cavalry’s not coming. The donor community has come to recognize the strength of Trump and the difficulty in dislodging a major part of the base from him. You’re tilting at windmills if you try.”
The quixotic perspective was demonstrated by Rob Collins, the co-chair of a super PAC for South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott who had stated in a memo to donors reviewed by the newspaper that a considerable amount of fall advertising was being canceled because “This electorate is locked up” and opposing Trump would be “wasting money” until more candidates drop out.
This did not stop representatives from Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley or Scott’s campaigns from making pitches Friday to a network of donors with New York hedge-fund manager Singer at the forefront.
Furthermore, while the Journal noted that “aides to Singer, Griffin, Ricketts and Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, and [the Koch family] confirmed those men haven’t made major contributions to any of the candidates’ super PACs,” that did not mean that the GOP field was without support.
Ahead of the midterms, a Scott super PAC had pulled in $30 million from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and the super PAC behind DeSantis was said to have garnered $20 million in March from entrepreneur Robert Bigelow.
Over the weekend, the third quarter reports were received by the Federal Election Commission and Trump touted over $37.5 million cash on hand after a take of about $24.5 compared to his leading competitor, DeSantis, who had just over $12.3 million on hand after taking in about $11 million.
A stark contrast in those reports was the individual contributions for the governor since launching his campaign in May, amounting to nearly $28.7 million compared to roughly $233,000 directly to the Trump campaign since November 2022.
Much of the president’s funding has gone through the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which took in nearly $54 million in individual contributions from the beginning of 2023 through the end of June, and reported to have under $5.7 million cash on hand after $52 million worth of federal disbursements.
Over the same time period, DeSantis’ leading Super PAC, Never Back Down, INC., reported cash on hand of nearly $97 million after taking in over $130 million in individual contributions, much of which, about $81 million, was said to have been transferred from his gubernatorial campaign.
The current reporting schedule leaves until the beginning of 2024 before super PAC funding beyond June 30 becomes publicly available.
Haley was reported to have $11.6 million on hand while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy had $4.2 million. Former Vice President Mike Pence reported around $1.2 million.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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