Former President Trump has at least one group of supporters he won’t have to worry about losing even if he’s convicted in a New York criminal hush-money trial: Republican mega-donors.
“I don’t hear anyone caring about that,” New York businessman and Republican donor Andy Sabin said when asked whether something major would happen. republican party Contributors he knew were concerned about the outcome of Trump’s trial.
Many of the party’s wealthiest donors told CNBC they plan to stay with Trump despite his conviction in New York on all 34 felonies.
Donor sentiment represents a shift for some Republican megadonors who initially sought a replacement for Trump during the party’s presidential primaries because they believed the former president’s legal troubles would fatally weaken his bid to replace President Joe Biden Activity.
Now, “there’s zero concern about it,” one longtime Republican fundraiser told CNBC. “A year ago, maybe (the trial was important). Now, not anymore.”
This person and others in this article requested anonymity to discuss private conversations with Trump and donors.
The support for Trump from major donors is also reflected in Trump’s fundraising numbers. Trump’s trial begins on April 15 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to porn stars.
Trump and the Republican National Committee announced they raised more than $76 million in total in April. The Biden team announced that its political operations, including the Democratic National Committee, raised $51 million during the same period.
Trump has also recently raised tens of millions of dollars at private events hosted by Republican mega-donors.
Texas businessman and former Trump administration official Ray Washburne in dallas May 22 is Trump.
Washburn told CNBC the event raised $10 million for the Trump 47 committee, which raises money for the Trump campaign, Trump’s political action committee Save America, the Republican National Committee and dozens of state parties. funds.
He called Trump’s New York trial “frivolous” and “ridiculous,” adding, “Trump will have no problem raising money.”
Omeed Malik, president of 1789 Capital and a Trump bundler, told CNBC that he believed a guilty verdict “would be completely counterproductive like an indictment, which would actually boost his (Trump’s) approval ratings.”
Malik co-hosted a Trump fundraiser New York On May 14, more than $10 million was raised.
David Tamasi, a Republican fundraiser and managing director of lobbying firm Chartwell Strategy Group, said a guilty verdict “is not an issue.”
“I think if someone told you after January 6th that the country would be what it is today, you would have a hard time understanding that,” Tamasi said, citing Biden’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and Ukraine and Gaza war problem.
Tamasi raised money for Trump’s 2020 campaign and for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s unsuccessful primary run against Trump last year.
Now, Tamasi said he plans to return to help Trump again, including possibly raising money for him.
One Republican corporate consultant recalled to CNBC how he recently spoke with nearly a dozen lobbyists who privately vilified Trump after January 6 and in the lead-up to the New York trial.
Despite being found guilty, all of them would go back to help raise money for Trump.
But perhaps the most telling sign of how Trump’s legal troubles are viewed by Republican megadonors is the case of Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman.
In 2021, after hundreds of Trump supporters launched a deadly attack on the Capitol on January 6, Schwarzman called the riot “appalling” and said he was “appalled and appalled by the actions of these thugs seeking to undermine our Constitution.” fear”.
In 2022, the billionaire and longtime Republican donor declared that “it’s time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders,” an apparent jab at the party’s former leader, Trump. Schwarzman also said he plans to support one of the “new” leaders in the 2024 presidential primary.
But two years later, Schwarzman changed his attitude. After not endorsing any of the Republican primary contenders, Schwarzman announced he would support Trump for the White House. “I plan to vote for change and support Donald Trump for president,” Schwarzman said in a statement to Axios on May 24.
On the same day, defense attorneys in Trump’s New York criminal trial were grilling Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who testified that Trump directed him to spend $130,000 to pay off a porn star before the 2016 election. of silence.
A spokesman for Schwarzman did not respond to a request for comment.
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