One red state Governor is skeptical about whether another GOP leader’s big donors matter in the 2024 Republican presidential race.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” South Dakota’s Kristi Noem shrugged off a question about how much it mattered that Ron DeSantis might match Donald Trump’s draw with donors, redirecting it from a question specific to the Florida Governor to a more general rumination on the larger field.
“You know, I’ve run probably 11 campaigns now,” Noem told Brian Kilmeade. “And what mattered to me was the small donors, the people who cared enough to send you five or 10 dollars.”
“President Trump has millions of small donors that invest in him. They maybe aren’t rich people, they aren’t big donors, but they go out there and they use their hard-earned money to get a leader elected,” Noem continued. “I don’t think any of the other candidates have that kind of commitment from the people that invest in them.”
The Governor continued to stress the importance of small dollar donors.
“They have big donors that write them big checks. I think that is powerful. But those small donors that President Trump has really sends another message as well.”
Trump’s campaign says it raised more than $35 million in the second quarter of 2023, almost doubling its first quarter haul, with an average donation of $34.20. Team Trump is not saying what its cash-on-hand is, however.
DeSantis’ campaign trumpeted raising $8.2 million in its first 24 hours in the campaign, meanwhile, from 40,000 donors. The New York Times notes that comes out to an average of $200 per donor, casting doubts on how grassroots the DeSantis effort is.
Numbers for these presidential campaigns, and all others, are due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission later this month.
Noem’s team had already jabbed at DeSantis earlier this year for settling for a 15-week abortion ban, which was rectified by the Heartbeat Bill during the most recent Legislative Session. Though the abortion ban now is stricter, Thursday’s media hit made it clear Noem is still a no-sale on DeSantis’ 2024 chances.
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