- The race is on to secure Haley’s supporters and donors in the 2024 campaign.
- North Carolina businessman Art Pope said he was never a Trumper
- But Trump will have to address the debt and abandon his tariff promise to make his money.
<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Deep-pocketed Republican donor Art Pope said Wednesday that Donald Trump would have to change course on economic and budget policies if he wanted to win his support.
Pope provided financial support to Nikki Haley’s campaign. Like her other followers, she said she was now weighing her next move after she announced she would suspend her race after losing 14 of the 15 states on Super Tuesday.
“I’m a ‘never Biden,’ but not a never Trumper,” he said.
‘It depends on what President Trump does. It depends on who he made vice president. It depends on what policies he chooses to emphasize during his campaign.
“It depends on whether or not he reaches out to traditional conservatives like me.”
Republican donor Art Pope endorsed Nikki Haley until she dropped out on Wednesday. Now he and other followers have to decide what to do with her money and her voters.
Wednesday morning opened a new phase in the 2024 presidential election: the battle for Haley’s supporters and the battle for her donors.
As the last candidate to oppose Trump, she became a fundraising magnet, raising $16 million in January and $12 million last month, even as she suffered primary losses.
For his part, he refused to endorse Trump and withdrew, saying it was up to him to win the votes of his supporters.
Both the former president and his 2024 rival, President Joe Biden, issued statements attempting to do exactly that.
At the same time, Haley’s financial backers are mulling their next move.
Some were glad that she stayed in the race even when her path to victory became mathematically impossible, leaving her to act as spokesperson for about a third of the party unwilling to support Trump.
Now that she’s out, they must make a decision: withdraw from this cycle or find the best place for their money.
Pope, a North Carolina businessman who made his fortune with hundreds of retail stores, said he had been proud to endorse Haley’s campaign, which he said was based on “strength and grace.”
He endorsed Haley in November after former Vice President Mike Pence retired. He has long-standing ties to the powerful Koch political network and was president of Americans for Prosperity, which he also threw his considerable weight behind Haley.
On Tuesday night, Donald Trump deliberately avoided mentioning Nikki Haley in his Super Tuesday speech. That all changed Wednesday morning when he hit her.
Trump expressed his thoughts on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning, but still called on his supporters to support his White House bid.
Endorsing Robert Kennedy Jr., Pope said, was out of the question, but he remained open-minded to other possibilities.
“There is always a black swan event: a health failure for President Biden or President Trump, an international crisis, whether No Labels would put forward a candidate for president or vice president that I find attractive and has a chance of winning.” he added she.
‘Those are things I don’t know. I’ll decide when they arrive.
Trump would need to change direction to win their support. That means abandoning plans to impose a universal tariff on imports, a costly plan to reduce debt, and taking the looming Social Security funding crisis seriously.
“For me, personally, it’s more traditional, limited government, free enterprise and low taxes,” he said, echoing Haley’s platform.
He highlighted Trump’s plan to impose a universal 10 percent tariff on all imported goods.
“A tariff is a tax on the American people, not only on American families and consumers, but on American employers, who import raw materials, components and equipment to carry out their manufacturing and create jobs in the United States,” he said.