A wave of big-dollar Wall Street donors are putting their money against former President Trump in the Republican presidential primary, according to Federal Elections Commission reports covering the past three months.
The donors have made significant contributions to Trump’s opponents, namely Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Dozens of Wall Street executives have given the maximum primary donation of $3,300, or the election cycle maximum of $6,600, to Trump’s opponents, according to an analysis by NBC.
DeSantis has received at least 15 contributions from major players on Wall Street, including from Goldman Sachs Vice President Justin Siegel. He also received $6,600 from hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones.
Both Haley and Ramaswamy received a dozen maxed-out donations from major finance executives. Haley and Ramaswamy reported fundraising of $7.3 million and $7 million respectively over the past three months.
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Meanwhile, Trump hauled in more than $35 million during the April-June second quarter of 2023 fundraising, nearly doubling his fundraising in the first three months of the year.
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Trump also holds a dominant lead in primary polling, with DeSantis trailing by dozens of points in second place. Haley, Mike Pence and several other candidates remain in the single digits.
On the other side of the aisle, President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign has found itself relying on large donations from deep-pocketed Democrats as support from middle-class voters has yet to significantly materialize.
The Biden Victory Fund has raked in tens of millions in donations from wealthy party members in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C., but his small-dollar donations are trailing well behind other recent Democratic campaigns.