Nikki Haley’s backers from her Republican primary run are lining up to throw their weight behind Joe Biden as he gears up for a showdown with Donald Trump in this year’s presidential face-off.
Trump clinched the GOP ticket for the November election last week, bagging the needed delegates from a string of primaries. The stage is set for a 2020 rematch with Biden, the sitting president.
Earlier in the month, after Super Tuesday didn’t go her way, Haley, once governor of South Carolina, bowed out of the race. Jeffrey Katzenberg, a big media player, got in touch with Harry Sloan—who had rallied at least $550,000 for Haley through fundraising events—and pitched the idea of backing Biden now. Sloan’s not new to supporting Dems; he chipped in $100,000 to the pro-Biden PAC, Future Forward, just last year.
In a chat with CNBC, Sloan confirmed he’s on board to fundraise for Biden.
Folks I know, the business-minded Republicans, they’ll be getting a call from me to back Biden, Sloan mentioned.
Rufus Gifford, the finance head of Biden’s campaign, spilled to the same news outlet about being in a WhatsApp group named “Haley Supporters for Biden,” which is on the hunt to snag more of Haley’s donor crowd.
Politico and NBC News have dished out that since Haley put her campaign on pause, Biden’s money team reached out to her donor list. Newsweek tried to get the lowdown independently and shot an email to Biden’s team for their take on the story.
Despite Trump having a solid fan base within his party, a chunk of GOP middle-of-the-roaders have been clear-cut about not voting for the ex-president, and the party itself has been dealing with some in-house scraps in Congress and within the Republican National Committee recently.
On the flip side, Trump seems pretty okay with not getting support from Haley’s old squad.
“If anyone tosses a ‘Contribution’ to [Haley] from now on, they’re out of the MAGA circle for good. We don’t need ’em, and won’t take ’em,” he posted on Truth Social come January 24.
But Biden’s reaction to Haley’s supporters was a warm welcome after she stepped down.
“Donald Trump’s message is he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s backers. Well, I’m laying it out there: My campaign’s got room for ’em,” Biden announced.
