As Nikki Haley nabs endorsements from Republican kingmakers, some wealthy Democratic donors also have begun quietly funneling cash to her campaign, On The Money has learned.
In a desperate bid to chip away at Donald Trump’s odds for the GOP nomination, a coterie of DNC donors are sending checks to Haley — even as they continue to publicly voice support for Biden and push for his White House bid, sources said.
Deep-pocketed participants view the unusual diversion of funds as an “opposition effort” against another Trump presidency, according to insiders.
“If we’re going to lose, let’s lose to her, not Trump,” one source said of Democratic donors’ thinking.
Wealthy donors can obscure contributions to candidates by funneling cash through shell companies to political nonprofits — donations that are referred to as “dark money”.
Indeed, Haley’s left-leaning backers are keeping as mum as possible about their efforts, a source added, saying, “They don’t want the Biden-Harris team to catch wind of it.”
Haley is still trailing Trump dramatically — in New Hampshire she is polling around 20% compared to Trump’s 42%, according to a CNN poll.
Still, that’s a healthy increase of 8 percentage points versus the previous CNN poll taken in September.
A lot of money can go a long way, notes Charles Myers, chairman of Signum Global Advisers.
“If you get a handful of billionaires to endorse you, in American politics that means you have unlimited money,” Myers said.
In the last election cycle, Democrats spent $53 million to boost fringe GOP candidates in primaries in an effort to give mainstream Democrats a better shot at getting elected, according to the Washington Post.
The controversial strategy to tank Republicans’ chances of winning a general election was largely successful.
This time, donors say the approach is different since the aim is to present voters with two centrist candidates and keep a far-right candidate from winning.
“As with everything around Trump, we’re in new territory, including political fundraising,” a source said.
Haley’s list of supporters is growing fast.
On Tuesday, she won backing from the Koch Brothers’ vast political network, Americans for Prosperity Action — an endorsement that can seriously help her ground game in key primaries.
Haley “has what it takes to lead a policy agenda to take on our nation’s biggest challenges and help ensure our country’s best days are ahead,” Americans for Prosperity Action said in its announcement. “With the grassroots and data capability we bring to bear in this race, no other organization is better equipped to help her do it.”
On Wednesday, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon urged all business leaders to “help” Haley’s campaign.
“Even if you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you, help Nikki Haley, too. Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than [Donald] Trump,” Dimon said Wednesday at The New York Times DealBook summit.
This week billionaire Ken Langone, who backed Trump in 2016, revealed he is considering supporting Haley and is meeting with her in the next few days.
Earlier this month, billionaire Ken Griffin — who had supported Ron DeSantis — said he is “actively contemplating” supporting Haley’s campaign.
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