Despite a tough loss in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley has nearly a dozen fundraisers scheduled between now and the South Carolina primary, and insiders are now wondering how many of these shindigs will actually happen.
On January 30 in New York City, billionaires including Leonard Stern, Cliff Asness, Stanley Druckenmiller, Ken Langone and Henry Kravis will co-host an event for the former South Carolina governor.
On February 6, Silicon Valley mogul Tim Draper will host Haley in Atherton, California. On February 15, Haley will also be honored in Dallas by real estate mogul Harlan Crow, according to an invitation reviewed by On The Money.
Elsewhere, Haley is scheduled for fundraising events from Greenville, S.C. to Houston and San Antonio, with hosts including real estate magnate Ross Perot Jr., French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ex-wife Cécilia Attias, Susan Rockefeller, Republican strategist Karl Rove’s wife, Karen, and former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), according to invitations obtained by On The Money.
That’s despite the fact that Haley, also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is 30 percentage points behind Trump in her home state of South Carolina.
Many donors admit her chances of winning the nomination are slim to none, and some experts say that for billionaires with money to spare, supporting Haley may be more about impressing friends with a cocktail than betting that she can make it. surprise.
Nikki Haley’s prospects of securing the Republican nomination are slim after Tuesday’s loss. Amanda Sabga/UPI/Shutterstock
In fact, for some hedge fund managers and venture capitalists, it is much more important to show their friends that they tried to stop Trump than to bet on a winning horse, the sources add.
Sources add that Haley’s aggregators view her support as something of a “vanity project” to show that they will support a centrist candidate, and point out that the cash outlay doesn’t even represent a rounding error in their bank accounts.
Other sources, however, say some event hosts are reconsidering whether it’s worth spending a lot of money when they believe Haley has no chance of winning.
“They want to show respect and not cancel the next day so we don’t know what happens for a couple of days,” a source said. But on the other hand, “it’s a strange dance where people figure out how not to bother anyone.
Although New Hampshire voters overwhelmingly support Trump, big donors continue to pour money into Nikki Haley. AFP via Getty Images
“Some of these people viscerally hate Trump, but they are also some of the most sophisticated and successful Americans… and they know when it’s time to give up,” another source added.
Puck was the first to report on the fundraiser.
Last week, Ken Langone said of Haley: “If she doesn’t get traction in New Hampshire, don’t throw money at the rat.”
However, he did not go so far as to say he would step away from fundraising if he was disappointed by its performance. As of Wednesday, the January 30 event in New York was moving forward.
Part of the new calculus is also trying to avoid the wrath of former President Trump, the man who is now expected to clinch the nomination and has a chance of becoming president again.
This is compounded by the fact that if Trump were to withdraw, Haley would not necessarily get the nomination: it is the convention delegates who ultimately decide and vote for a replacement. They can select someone who embraces the MAGA agenda instead of choosing a more centrist candidate like Haley.
President Donald Trump waves to supporters as he arrives at a campaign rally in Londonderry, NH, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. AP
On The Money previously reported that as Haley rallied endorsements from Republican kingmakers like the Koch brothers, some wealthy Democratic donors were also quietly funneling cash into her campaign.
According to insiders, deep-pocketed participants viewed the unusual diversion of funds as an “opposition effort” against another Trump presidency. Haley raised $24 million in the last three months of 2023.
Other fundraising hosts include hedge fund managers, venture capitalists, law firm partners such as Kirkland Ellis and Paul Weiss, as well as former and current executives from Meta, Google and UBS.
CEO of JPMorgan Chase’s wealth management division, Kristin Lemkau, is also participating in Haley’s fundraiser in New York. Last year, her boss, Jamie Dimon, encouraged others on Wall Street to support Nikki Haley. More recently, he has also defended Donald Trump as “kind of right” in many of his policies.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn