2024-03-10 06:01:00
Sponsors of the election campaign of the Republican and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the presidential race, Liz and Dick Wihlein, announced their intention to support another Republican, Donald Trump, the British newspaper reported the day before, March 9 Financial Times (FT).
“I think Trump can win,” Liz Uihlein said.
She said the criminal prosecution “tremendously” helped him win Republican support in the party’s primaries.
Liz Uihlein’s fortune, according to Forbes, is $5.2 billion. She and her husband Dick (full name Richard) are the founders of Uline, North America’s largest distributor of vehicles, packaging and industrial products. Liz Wihlein is the company’s president. Forbes notes that the couple are among the most generous donors to political campaigns in the United States.
However, Uihlein was ambivalent regarding Trump’s positioning. According to her, “everyone likes” his policies, but the businesswoman herself would never talk to people, for example, to employees, the way Trump does.
The Wihleins were among the largest donors to DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Each of the spouses donated $1.5 million to him. Wihlein said she is ready to give the same amount to Trump. The couple supported him in the two previous elections, FT notes.
The London publication notes that funding from the Wihlanes is important for Trump. At the end of last year, support groups for the current president Joe Biden collected regarding $118 million, Trump – only $66 million. The difference of $53 million is equal to the Republican’s legal costs in criminal and civil cases, explains FT.
On March 5, “Super Tuesday” took place in the United States – the most important day of internal party elections, when they take place in many states at once, that is, a decisive number of delegate votes is at stake. To receive the Republican nomination, a candidate must receive 1,215 delegate votes. On this day, Trump won 14 out of 15 states at once. According to CNN estimates, he secured the support of 1,040 delegates.
The next day, Trump’s last competitor, the former US permanent representative to the UN, refused to nominate her candidacy for the upcoming November elections. Nikki Haley.
Trump is also fighting to win over the “megadonors” who have backed Haley as an alternative to the former president. In January, he warned his would-be billionaire supporters that they would be “excluded” from his MAGA camp if they continued to contribute to his campaign.
Many of Haley’s top donors are currently discussing whether to support Trump or focus on Republican efforts to win the Senate and protect the party’s majority in the US House of Representatives, the FT writes.
DeSantis announced his withdrawal from the election race back in January, calling on his supporters to support Trump.
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