With less than 50 days left until the crucial Iowa caucuses (the first statewide vote to choose a party’s nominee for president), the district is shrinking. Donald Trump He remains the favorite in all polls ahead of the other Republican opponents and in some crucial states even ahead of Democrat Joe Biden. What the former president could not have imagined is that at this point a new threat would emerge, one that has gained ground in the debates in which he did not participate.
Last Tuesday, Americans for Prosperity Action, the main political arm of the famous Koch company, the second-largest company in the United States with sales of $115 billion in 2019, announced that it would support the candidate Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries. Koch said back in 2020 that he refused to support Trump’s re-election, but so far he has remained silent, waiting for a candidate of his choice to prevail against the former president.
Nikki Haley “will have the full weight and reach of AFP Action’s unparalleled Army and grassroots resources,” they confirmed in a statement. The announcement represents a consolidation of support from elite donors who see the former governor as the best alternative to Donald Trump. A lot of this support has to do with the fact that the former governor of South Carolina was always against the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan or continued to support Ukraine against Russia. His defense of “America First” resonated with the Republican base.
The former United States representative to the United Nations during Trump’s administration has gained support thanks to her convincing performance in the debate with her opponents. That’s why several groups have come together in recent weeks to support the campaign of the only woman running in the Republican primary. According to the media Axiosthe CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, said he had private conversations with her to offer his support and has publicly urged everyone to follow him, “even if you are a very liberal Democrat.” The big Republican donor Ken Griffin He also said earlier this month that he was “actively considering” supporting Haley in the primary.
Koch’s announcement was a major blow to the Florida governor. Ron DeSantis, who always suggested that this was a political race between two men, Trump and him. The biggest donors have just made it clear to him that he is wrong. Nevertheless, the Floridian is also taking his first economic steps. He has even attracted new benefactors, such as Fight Right, a super PAC that announced this week that it would support the Florida governor’s campaign.
But the second-favorite’s failure to pick Koch didn’t sit well with him, and he made that clear by publicly criticizing the multinational corporation that helped him get re-elected governor of the state of Florida.
Of course, the person who is currently generating the most income is in the lead in the surveys. Former President Donald Trump also had some “friends” who would bet on him and support him with a dollar. Even donors who distanced themselves after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 have now returned. For example, the oil tycoon Harold Hammone of his top fundraisers in the 2016 election and who initially said Trump should withdraw his candidacy, donated more than $200,000 to a super PAC benefiting the former president last October.
He already says it Bernie Marcus, co-founder of the American multinational Home Depot: “Let’s face it, Donald Trump will win the nomination.” And Marcus donated $16,000 to Haley’s cause last March. The businessman explained this in an interview with the network ABC News “There are people I’ve spoken to who are still undecided and don’t know what to do. “They don’t like Trump as a person, but they recognize the talent is there.”