Big-Time Republican Donor Believes Donald Trump Shouldn’t Run in 2024
Jose Nino
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Citadel founder and prominent Republic donor Ken Griffin declared on November 14, 2022 that former President Donald Trump is a “three-time loser.” He hoped that Trump would not run for the presidency in 2024.
While Trump announced his 2024 campaign on November 15, Griffin’s comments show a growing degree of dissatisfaction among the Republican class with Trump.
Tyler Durden of ZeroHedge noted that Griffin has a net worth of roughly $29 billion. Griffin gave nearly $60 million to federal Republican candidates in the 2022 elections. In doing so, Griffin became the third-largest individual donor, following conservative Richard Uihlein ($62 million) and leftist oligarch George Soros ($128 million) in this election cycle.
During Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Singapore on November 14, Griffin expressed his opinion about Trump’s presidential aspirations in 2024:
I really do hope that President Trump sees the writing on the wall. He lost in 2020. We lost Georgia because of his behavior in the Senate race in 2020…that’s the second loss. And then this year, Republicans lost the Senate because the Trump-backed candidates in the Senate races were rejected by American voters.
That’s a three-time loser, and I’d like to think that the Republican party’s ready to move on from somebody who’s been, for this party, a three-time loser.
Earlier this month, Griffin expressed his favorability towards a run by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “He has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well-served by him as president,” Griffin said to Politico.
Griffin donated $5 million to DeSantis’ re-election effort, thereby becoming the Florida governor’s leading donor. Griffin has a track record of donating to Democrats such as Barack Obama in 2008 and giving $500,000 to Joe Biden’s 2020 inauguration.
In recent years, Griffin has drifted rightward in the type of donations he makes. This summer, Griffin made headlines after moving Citadel’s headquarters and his residence from Chicago to Miami. Before making this move, Griffin repeatedly manifested his growing disillusionment with Illinois’ and Chicago’s political leadership. He specifically cited growing crime and widespread corruption as his main points of contention.
Overall, the ruling class is using Republicans’ lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms to drive a wedge between Trump and DeSantis and divide the broader America First movement.
While some of Trump’s recent behavior has become questionable, America First activists should find proactive ways to ensure that the spirit of 2016 continues to animate the GOP. We cannot afford the America First movement to be co-opted by elites like other dissident movements have in GOP circles on previous occasions.
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