Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s super PAC became the recipient of yet another million-dollar donation in the effort to draft the first-term governor into the Republican donors’ fantasy 2024 presidential race.
It was the third donation of its kind from Republican megadonor and billionaire Thomas Peterffy, who had previously backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year. In April, Peterffy said he was pausing his support for DeSantis due to the governor’s extreme positions on abortion and book banning.
In a July appearance on Fox Business, Peterffy said he thought Youngkin would make “an ideal candidate” for the Republican Party. “I very much hope that he’s going to enter the race,” Peterffy added.
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Youngkin might be an even more ideal GOP candidate if he had any genuine MAGA appeal. But alas, MAGA rallies are thin on those plushy red vests Republican donors just adore. In fact, the timing of Peterffy’s donation coincided with Youngkin’s self-styled “Red Vest Retreat” over the weekend, where well-heeled Republican muckety-mucks rubbed sleeveless elbows with one another and fantasized about escaping MAGA’s death grip.
Too bad Republican donors can’t get out of their own way. Instead of crowding the Republican field with yet another fantasy also-ran, they could be placing their bets on someone who is already in the contest, posted two very solid debates, is getting a slight bump in the polls, and actually appears to have a two-state strategy for getting from Iowa to New Hampshire: former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Haley is no slam dunk, but she’s proving to be the best donor-backed challenger to Trump to date. Republican donors may not have figured that out, but Trump has, which is exactly why the frontrunner has been lashing out at Haley on social media. Last week, Trump nicknamed Haley “birdbrain” in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump’s campaign also took the classy step of sending a bird cage to Haley’s hotel room.
Haley took the harassment from Trump as a good sign.
“Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast. Bring it!” she tweeted in response to her new pet name from Trump.
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