Top Republican donors were reportedly thoroughly unimpressed by a rambling speech that ex-President Donald Trump gave on Saturday as part of a retreat for GOP power players in Florida. During his remarks, Trump reiterated his only increasingly unhinged lies about the 2020 presidential election, which he continues to falsely claim was rigged for Joe Biden. He also antagonized prominent Republicans like his own former second-in-command Mike Pence and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the latter of whom Trump referred to as a “dumb son of a bitch.”
Trump delivered his remarks at his Palm Beach-area Mar-a-Lago resort. On Sunday, POLITICO reported the following:
‘A slew of well-heeled Republican National Committee donors descended on Palm Beach this weekend, excited to be schmoozed, eager for access to Donald Trump and other potential 2024 nominees, but mostly interested in hearing how far their dollars would go toward winning back the Congress and White House. Trump’s speech didn’t do any of that… Trump used the final night of the retreat to talk about himself, his grievances and how he plans to enact retribution against those who voted to impeach him — which runs counter to the donors’ main objective of making sure their dollars go toward winning overall.’
One attendee added as follows to the publication, discussing Trump’s remarks:
‘It was horrible, it was long and negative… It was dour. He didn’t talk about the positive things that his administration has done.’
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times noted that, regarding donors’ criticism, “So far not one will put their name to it and none will say it to him,” but Trump’s divisiveness is nonetheless posing institutional problems for the party.
Have heard same from attendees … and yet. So far not one will put their name to it and none will say it to him. https://t.co/btq64LA3pY
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 11, 2021
Trump’s Save America political action committee had $85 million in cash on hand as of a recent point, according to The New York Times — and as of this same point, the Republican National Committee only had $84 million on hand. Trump has clearly established his intention to politically challenge Republicans who’ve dared to voice opposition to him, so his formidable fundraising could help consume the GOP with infighting. Theoretically, some of the cash under Trump’s purview could have gone to the main arms of the Republican Party itself under different circumstances.
