Republican donors are REFUSING to give money to Trump's rivals because they don't believe they can win: 'The cavalry's not coming'

Republican megadonors aren't flocking to back candidates against former President Donald Trump for 2024 like they did in droves in 2016

Republican megadonors aren't flocking to back candidates against former President Donald Trump for 2024 like they did in droves during the 2016 presidential primary race. Pictured: Trump speaks to reporters when arriving for court in Manhattan on Tuesday, October 17

By KATELYN CARALLE, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 20:43 BST, 17 October 2023 | UPDATED: 06:55 BST, 18 October 2023

• Many are resigned that Trump will be the 2024 GOP nominee 

• Trump has the largest small donor money by far and the largest war chest 

It's becoming increasingly clear that Republican megadonors aren't going to swoop in to save the flurry of struggling campaigns vying to take Donald Trump's spot as the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.

In 2016, billionaire business leaders blew tens of millions of dollars trying to stop Trump from winning the nomination by backing competitors like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

They seem less hyped to do it again this time around as the former president remains the far frontrunner with just three months until the primary elections kick off.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all failed to earn the same buy-in from billionaires who kept some 2016 campaigns alive against Trump.

One person who works closely with several donors in the financial industry predicted their money would largely be absent from the presidential race, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Instead, the source notes, big GOP donor money might flow toward an effort to win Republican control of the Senate.

Financial disclosures filed over the weekend also show that in the third quarter of this year, Trump's campaign still far out-raised his competitors – bringing in $24.5 million between July 1 and September 30 from small donors.

DeSantis was the next highest earner at $11 million.

These figures prove that outside groups, which are able to funnel to candidates more than the maximum $3,300 single donor cap, is key if any candidates want a shot at defeating Trump.

Billionaire businessmen Paul Singer, Ken Griffin, Joe Ricketts and Stephen Schwarzman, among other wealthy donors, were able to pour millions to candidates through their super PACs.

Trump, it seems, was able to keep his fundraising so far ahead of his competitors by using the boost over the last three months of his first-ever jailhouse mugshot amid his litany of legal woes.

The ex-President now has a war chest of $37.5 million - about the same as all the other Republican candidates put together.

The huge cash advantage will allow him to flood the airwaves with adverts in Iowa and New Hampshire , the first states to vote in the race next year, as he seeks to knock out his opponents early.

Sen. Scott has the second biggest amount of cash to spend with $13.3 million.

DeSantis, Trumps' closest rival in the polls, has $12.3 million in the bank, Haley has $11.6 million and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy $4.2 million.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the rival closest to Trump – although he remains dozens of points behind in polling. He is one of the few candidates who has garnered some big GOP money since launching his campaign

Ramaswamy, a multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, has a slight advantage because he is able to pull from his own bank account. While the market had an uptick over the summer, Ramaswamy was briefly one of the 20 youngest billionaires in the U.S.

While most major donors are hesitant to throw millions at a race they feel is already decided, some aren't resigned to the sidelines.

Wisconsin-based shipping magnate Richard Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth were one of the most generous donor couples in the 2016 Republican primary. In the spring, the gave DeSantis's super PAC $2 million. Las Vegas hotel and aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow also gave $20 million in March to DeSantis's super PAC Never Back Down.

Additionally, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who said he is all-in on Scott's campaign, has donated $30 million to a Scott super PAC.

The latest figures from the Federal Election Commission showed that DeSantis raised $11.2 million between July and September but spent almost al of it.

That included splurging $1.5 million to hire private jets.

Most of the flights, taken with six private jet companies, were between Florida and Iowa, where he is increasingly focusing his campaign.

DeSantis has been reining in spending, having used only $1.3 million in September, compared to $6 million in July.

He has cut campaign staff and moved around one third of his remaining people to Iowa.

Over the three-month period Trump raised about the same amount as Joe Biden.

His haul was up by $7 million from what he collected in the three months before that.

More than $2 million - most of it in donations of less than $50 - flowed into Trump's campaign within 24 hours of his mugshot being released on Aug 24.

The mugshot was taken at a jail in Georgia when he was charged with alleged offences, which he denies, emanating from his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.

His campaign has been putting the mugshot on t-shirts and coffee cups to raise money.

David Kochel, a Republican strategist said: 'That is his super power. The more these prosecutors come for him, the more he says 'We're in this together and I'm being attacked'.'

Over the last three months Trump only spent $9.5 million, less than DeSantis.

He has declared that DeSantis 'will soon be out of money.'

Haley saw her donations go up in the wake of the two recent Republican debates.

The $11.6 million she has to spend is up over $7 million from the end of June.

She said her campaign had received money from 40,000 new donors over the last three months.

Her spokeswoman said: 'We have seen a big surge in support and have real momentum. Nikki is emerging as the candidate who can move America beyond the chaos and drama of the past and present, and we have the resources we need to do it.'

Meanwhile, Mike Pence reported only $1.2 million in available funds and has $620,000 in debts to pay.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12641611/Republican-donors-REFUSING-money-Trumps-rivals-dont-believe-win-cavalrys-not-coming.html