Trump has a big problem when it comes to some donors
Mega money donors who backed Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican Primary are taking their cash and using it to back Joe Biden over Donald Trump. Here is what we know and why this could be a big problem for the former president.
Trump was confirmed as the presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2024 after he crossed the 1,215 delegate threshold on March 12th, setting up the former president for his long-awaited rematch against President Joe Biden.
However, Trump faces one big issue that most news outlets aren’t talking about. The big-money GOP donors who backed his primary opponent Nikki Haley are choosing to shift their cash to Biden and the Democrats over Trump in 2024.
The situation might actually be the former president’s own fault since he previously said that he didn’t want any help from those who supported Haley over himself while he was still fighting Haley to win the Republican primary nomination.
In a post published on Truth Social on January 24th, Trump wrote: “Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.” Birdbrain was a nickname Trump gave to Haley.
The former president went on to write: “We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!” It seems that some former Haley donors got the message and are now working to back Biden.
Biden capitalized on Trump’s social media rant and made it clear that he was more than happy to welcome any former Haley donor who wanted to join him in the battle to defeat Trump in the general election in November.
“Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said after Haley announced she was ending her primary campaign according to the Hill.
A report from CNBC noted in the days following Haley’s withdrawal from the Republican primary, Biden campaign co-chair and movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg began reaching out to disaffected Haley donors to win their support for Biden.
Media executive Harry Sloan was one of roughly a half-dozen Haley backers who have agreed to help Biden defeat Trump in the upcoming general election. Salon was a great catch for Biden’s team since he was a big fundraiser for Haley.
Sloan allegedly was able to raise at least $550,000 for Haley’s primary campaign for the White House, most of which CNBC reported came from two events that he hosted at his home in Los Angeles. But can he raise just as much for Biden?
Sloan has donated to both parties in the past and also gave a pro-Biden political action committee $100,000 dollars in 2023. But regardless of what is raised, the mere fact that Haley’s donors are shifting to Biden is a big win for the President.
“For Biden’s team, successfully snagging Republican former Haley donors would amount to a fundraising coup, bolstering the president’s political operation while taking these potential donors off the field for Trump,” wrote CNBC’s Biran Schwartz.
Sloan does appear ready and willing to help Biden’s effort to beat Trump in 2024 and he told CNBC: “People I know who are generally business Republicans, they’re going to hear from me,” which appears to be a promising sign.
Another important donor picked up by the Biden team is Shark Tank star and billionaire investor businessman Mark Cuban, who confined his attendance at a Biden fundraiser the President attended in Dallas according to a report from ABC News.
ABC News also reported that an unnamed source close to the Biden campaign said that the President’s team has been holding online Zoom meetings with former Haley donors ever since she suspended her campaign on March 6th.