Ken Griffin, Citadel
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, a significant Republican donor, says he’s sitting on the sidelines of the GOP presidential primary and never supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he backed in 2022.
Griffin isn’t impressed with what he’s seeing from the alternatives to front-runner Donald Trump and has yet to come to a decision who he plans to assist, he said in an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen set to air Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
“I’m still on the sidelines as to who to support on this election cycle,” Griffin said. “Look, if I had my dream, we would have an ideal Republican candidate in the first who was younger, of a special generation, with a special tone for America. And we would have a younger person on the Democratic side in the first, who would have his message for our country.”
With two younger, brisker candidates, “We would have a debate around ideas and principles and policies to make this an ideal nation,” he said. “We’re not having that dialogue straight away.”
Griffin has an estimated net price of $35 billion, and he gave greater than $100 million through the 2022 midterms to a mixture of a state and federal candidates, with just about all of it going toward Republicans. Griffin gave $5 million in 2021 to a political motion committee backing DeSantis’ successful reelection bid, in keeping with state campaign finance records.
His sidelining within the GOP primary means, no less than for now, certainly one of the party’s biggest contributors won’t be putting his considerable financial resources toward a candidate difficult Trump’s enormous advantage.
The previous president leads the first field by no less than 50 percentage points, in keeping with the most recent Quinnipiac poll.
Every day that passes with donors like Griffin staying out of the Republican primary is a day the cash race accrues to Trump’s profit.
“Because the presidential campaigns unfold, I’m assessing how the policies of every candidate will address the challenges facing our country,” Griffin said later in a press release to CNBC. “I care deeply about individual rights and freedom, economic policies that encourage prosperity and upward mobility, all children getting access to a high-quality education, ensuring our communities are secure, and a robust national defense.”
As for DeSantis, Griffin doesn’t understand the strategy of the Florida governor’s presidential campaign.
Before the Florida governor launched a run for the White House, Griffin said “our country could be well-served by [DeSantis] as president.”
But not anymore. “I do not know his strategy,” Griffin said, referring to DeSantis’ 2024 campaign. “It isn’t clear to me what voter base he’s meaning to appeal to.”
The newest Quinnipiac poll shows DeSantis with 12% of support versus Trump’s 62% within the Republican primary.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arrives ahead of the ceremony marking the twenty second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, in Recent York City, U.S., September 11, 2023.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Griffin praised DeSantis for a way he governed Florida during his first term, calling it, “phenomenal,” but added, this “hasn’t been how this previous few months have played out.”
One among his current issues with DeSantis’ second term as governor is the war he has waged against Disney. “The continued battle with Disney, I feel, is pointless,” said Griffin. “It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida.”
The fight between DeSantis and Disney began last 12 months, when the corporate said it opposed Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for college students in public school.
After Disney got here out against the bill, DeSantis and his allies targeted the special tax district that had allowed Disney to effectively self-govern its Orlando-area theme parks for a long time. Disney and DeSantis are actually locked in dueling lawsuits.
