GOP Donors Worry Trump’s ‘The One Republican Who Can Lose In 2024’ After Blockbuster Jan. 6 Testimony, Says Top Fundraiser
Republican donors fear former President Donald Trump might be “the one Republican who can lose in 2024” after extremely damaging testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, according to a top fundraiser.
Hutchinson is the former top aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who has come to dominate political news this week after she dropped bombshell after bombshell at Tuesday’s surprise hearing of the January 6 committee. Early indications are that even if the hearings don’t land Trump in jail, they figure to inflict heavy political damage.
According to a new report by CNBC Political Finance Reporter Brian Schwartz entitled “GOP megadonors turn on Trump after Jan. 6 hearings, set sights on DeSantis, Pence and other 2024 hopefuls,” Hutchinson’s testimony is already doing a job on Trump with Republican donors.
It’s a deep dive on the state of fundraising in the Republican field, but also a window into donor deliberations that’s informed by sources who, Schwartz notes, “asked not to be named because they didn’t want to provoke retribution from Trump or his allies.”
Knowing the hold Trump has over Republicans, it’s perhaps telling that one of the more damaging quotes comes from a source who wasn’t afraid to use his name, an attorney and donor named Eric Levine:
“Donors are very concerned that Trump is the one Republican who can lose in 2024,” Eric Levine, an attorney and longtime GOP fundraiser, said after the hearing Tuesday featuring testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. “I think donors were already moving away from Trump,” he noted.
Other ominous tidbits from the story include:
A person close to some of the biggest real estate executives in New York who backed Trump during both of his runs for the White House said this time is different. Their view is he’s taken “major hits” during the Jan. 6 hearings. None from that group are coming to defend him, at least for now.
“The silence is deafening,” this person added.
And this:
A Republican fundraiser, who actively raised money for Trump and the Republican National Committee in 2020, told CNBC after Tuesday’s hearing, “I don’t think any major donor with business interests would support a Trump presidential run after today’s hearing.” That person said they wouldn’t feel comfortable, based on these findings, working for Trump’s campaign again or raising money for another presidential run.
Trump and his defenders have been pushing back at the hearings — particularly Hutchinson’s testimony — in near-real time, but CNBC’s reporting suggests these donors aren’t buying it.
