GOP Megadonor Who Sunk Millions Into a DeSantis PAC Now Says He’s ‘On the Sidelines’: ‘I Don’t Know His Strategy’

As Ron DeSantis struggles to make headway with his 2024 presidential campaign, one of his biggest financial backers is making clear that the Florida governor shouldn’t count on his help going forward.

CNBC previewed an upcoming interview between Sara Eisen and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, a Republican megadonor who gave $5 million to a PAC that supported DeSantis last year during his reelection effort. Amid DeSantis’ public appeal struggles, donor hemmoraging, and campaign overhauls, Griffin hinted that he won’t throw DeSantis a life raft — citing his displeasure with the broader political conversation.

“I’m still on the sidelines as to who to support in this election cycle,” said Griffin. “Look, if I had my dream, we’d have a great Republican candidate in the primary who was younger, of a different generation, with a different tone for America. And we’d have a younger person on the Democratic side in the primary, who would have his message for our country… We’d have a debate around ideas and principles and policies to make this a great nation. We’re not having that dialogue right now.”

While Griffin praised DeSantis’ “phenomenal” performance as governor, he assessed that the last few months have been below that standard, and now “I don’t know his strategy.” According to Griffin, part of this stems from DeSantis’ legal war with Disney over the alleged, punitive actions he has taken against the company for criticizing him.

“The ongoing battle with Disney, I think, is pointless. It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida,” Griffin said. “It’s not clear to me what voter base he is intending to appeal to.”

CNBC notes that as long as Griffin stays out of the race, Donald Trump’s primary lead is likely to grow if DeSantis doesn’t have the financial resources to fuel their campaign rivalry.

The interview will air tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET.