Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley got more bad news when her libertarian sugar daddy Charles Koch’s network pulled its financial backing from her troubled White House campaign.
Americans for Prosperity Action, the group backed by the surviving member of the Koch brothers paused its funding for the former South Carolina governor after she was walloped in her home state’s primary by GOP frontrunner Donald J. Trump.
“She has made it clear that she will continue to fight and we wholeheartedly support her in this effort,” wrote AFP Action CEO Emily Seidel in a Sunday email to staff. “But given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory.”
Americans For Prosperity Action will stop spending money on behalf of Nikki Haley campaign following her humiliating defeat in her own home turf of South Carolina by 20 points
In an email to staff, the Koch-aligned group said it decided it had to “take stock” of its spending… pic.twitter.com/FSUSz2y1Nb
— Mona Salama (@ByMonaSalama) February 25, 2024
According to the email, which was obtained and first reported by Politico, the group will instead focus its spending on competitive congressional races.
Trump, who had previously blasted the “corrupt network of globalist RINO donors” after it bet big on Haley reacted to the news on his Truth Social platform.
“AMERICAN’S FOR NO PROSPERITY JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTING NIKKI “BRAINDEAD” (BIRDBRAIN?) HALEY. CHARLES KOCH AND HIS GROUP GOT PLAYED FOR SUCKERS RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING!” Trump wrote on Sunday evening.
(Screenshot: Truth Social)
While seeming to acknowledge that it is unwilling to burn any more money on a lost cause, the group is sticking by its endorsement of Haley which won’t cost anything except damage to its reputation.
While it’s not a crushing blow to Haley whose campaign will still be artificially propped up by deep-pocketed Democrats who are using her as a wrecking ball against the Republican party’s hopes of ousting Joe Biden, it strips her of the figleaf of being backed by conservatives seeking an alternative to Trump.
One high-profile Democrat of note, California Governor Gavin Newsom gushed that “Backdoor Nikki” is “one of our better surrogates” in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper last week.
Democrat Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) praises Republican Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) for working for the Democrats to undermine Trump: “She’s one of our better surrogates.” WATCH pic.twitter.com/aB2aYwWNcJ
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 24, 2024
“AFP is a great organization and ally in the fight for freedom and conservative government. We thank them for their tremendous help in this race,” Haley’s campaign said in a Sunday statement. “Our fight continues, and with more than $1 million coming in from grassroots conservatives in just the last 24 hours, we have plenty of fuel to keep going. We have a country to save.”
Despite her home state drubbing in which not enough Democrats turned out in the open primary state to deliver what would have been a game-changing win that shifted the narrative, Haley isn’t about to give up on her suicide bomber mission to damage Trump in the general election.
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