Despite a big 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 co-hosted an event for the former South Carolina governor.
On February 6, Silicon Valley mogul Tim Draper hosted Haley in Atherton, Calif. On February 15, Haley is also scheduled to be feted in Dallas by real estate tycoon Harlan Crow, according to invitations reviewed by On The Money.
Elsewhere, Haley is scheduled to raise funds from Greenville, SC to Houston to San Antonio, with hosts including real estate tycoon Ross Perot Jr., French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ex-wife Cécilia Attias, Susan Rockefeller, GOP strategist Karl Rove’s wife Karen and former US Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), according to an invitation obtained by On The Money.
That’s despite Haley, also a former US ambassador to the United Nations, trailing Trump by 30 percentage points in her home state of South Carolina.
Many donors admit her chances of winning the nomination are slim — and some insiders say that for cash-strapped billionaires, supporting Haley may be more about impressing friends with a cocktail party than betting she can pull off an upset.
Nikki Haley’s prospects for the Republican nomination are slim after Tuesday’s loss. Amanda Sabga/UPI/Shutterstock
In fact, for some hedge fund managers and venture capitalists, it’s more important to show their friends that they’re trying to prevent Trump from actually betting on a winning horse, the source added.
Sources added that Haley’s backers saw their support as a kind of “vanity project” to show they would support a centrist candidate — and note that the cash outlay was not in the rounding error in their bank accounts.
Other sources, however, say that some event hosts are reconsidering whether it’s worth throwing good money at bad when they believe Haley has no chance of winning.
“They wanted to show their respect and not cancel the day after so we won’t know what happened for a few more days,” a source said. But instead, “It’s a weird dance where people figure out how not to bother anyone.
Even though voters in New Hampshire overwhelmingly support Trump, big donors are still putting money behind Nikki Haley. AFP via Getty Images
“Some of these people really hate Trump but they are also some of the most sophisticated and successful Americans… and they know when to fold,” another source added.
Puck first reported on the fundraiser.
Last week, Ken Langone said of Haley, “If she doesn’t get traction in New Hampshire, you’re not going to throw money away.”
However, he did not say he would withdraw from the fundraiser if he was disappointed with his performance. As of Wednesday, the Jan. 30 event in New York is moving forward.
Part of the new calculation also tries to avoid the wrath of former President Trump — the man who is now expected to win the nomination and have a chance to become president again.
That’s compounded by the fact that if Trump were to drop out, Haley wouldn’t necessarily get the nomination — it’s the delegates at the convention who ultimately decide and vote on a replacement. They might choose someone who embraces the MAGA agenda over a more centrist candidate like Haley.
President Donald Trump waves to supporters as he arrives at a campaign stop in Londonderry, NH, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. AP
On The Money previously reported that as Haley received support from Republican kingmakers — like the Koch brothers — some wealthy Democratic donors also quietly funneled cash to her campaign.
Deep-pocketed contestants see the unusual diversion of funds as an “opposition effort” against another Trump presidency, according to insiders. Haley raised $24 million in the last three months of 2023.
A host of other fundraisers include hedge fund managers, venture capitalists, partners at law firms such as Kirkland Ellis and Paul Weiss and former and current executives at Meta, Google and UBS.
CEO of JPMorgan Chase’s wealth management division Kristin Lemkau is also involved with New York fundraising for Haley. Last year her boss, Jamie Dimon, encouraged others on Wall Street to support Nikki Haley. Recently, he has also defended Donald Trump as “sort of right” about many of his policies.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
