Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appears to be drawing from anti-Donald Trump donors to keep her long-shot White House bid afloat and delay the former president from being declared the GOP's presumptive nominee.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Haley's campaign has raked in more than $4 million in online fundraising since she lost the New Hampshire primary to Trump last week. There are indications that she is retaining the support of her deep-pocket donors, some of whom find Trump distasteful.
Haley on Tuesday was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in New York City co-hosted by Wall Street billionaires Stanley Druckenmiller, Henry Kravis, Ken Langone, and Cliff Asness, where contributions are expected to range from $3,300 to $16,600 per person.
Haley's campaign told the Journal that the event is part of a tour throughout the area that will net more than $1.5 million.
Some Republican and independent donors have been angered by Trump's call for those who donate to Haley to be "permanently barred" from his political movement.
"Attacking Nikki Haley's financial supporters is not about throwing us out of MAGA, as he has already long since driven us out of the Republican Party," James Hoffmann, 62, of Massachusetts, told the Journal.
The retired investment manager and Haley donor said he voted Republican for president through 2016.
In a Friday post on X, Asness, who co-founded AQR Capital Management, defended his contributions to Haley's campaign.
"I contributed early and significantly to Nikki and thought I had done my job," he wrote. "But if past contributions don't qualify me for being 'barred' from his RINO (yes they are the Republicans in name only) cult I may have to contribute more now."
After Trump's threat on Wednesday, Haley's camp began selling T-shirts with her name and "BARRED PERMANENTLY" on them as part of a fundraising appeal. More than 15,000 have already been distributed, the campaign said, raising more than $500,000.
Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least Super Tuesday on March 5, despite coming in third in the Iowa caucuses and losing New Hampshire to Trump by 11 percentage points. She is increasingly framing herself as the solution to avoiding a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, which a number of polls have shown Americans don't want.
Taking on Trump in South Carolina, where Haley served as governor, looks to be an uphill slog, as she's trailing him by more than 30 points in the state polling average and the former president is leading Haley by more than 50 percentage points in national GOP primary polls, according to the latest FiveThirtyEight average.
Still, Haley's allies are reportedly hopeful that she will be competitive in Michigan on Feb. 27.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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