Republican megadonor Thomas Peterffy said he is suspending donations to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ahead of his potential 2024 presidential campaign.
“I have put myself on hold,” the billionaire founder of Interactive Brokers Group Inc. told the Financial Times in an article published Saturday.
“Because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry,” Peterffy explained.
On Thursday night, DeSantis signed Florida Republicans’ restrictive six-week abortion ban into law. He has also banned Black history courses and books, moves that were apparently too extreme for Peterffy.
DeSantis, a possible challenger to former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, “seems to have lost some momentum,” Peterffy added.
In November 2022, Peterffy was one of five Republican heavies to distance themselves from Trump following the GOP’s poor showing in that month’s midterm elections, which was largely attributed to Trump’s endorsement of candidates who regurgitated his 2020 election lies.
“I think we need a fresh face,” Peterffy told Bloomberg at the time. “The problem with Trump is he has so many negatives, he can’t get elected, period.”
meatball402 on April 17th, 2023 at 11:58 UTC »
I think a lot of corporations look at how Ron is attacking Disney and thinking "will that be me if I mildly criticize him?"
TheSquishiestMitten on April 17th, 2023 at 11:46 UTC »
If we publicly financed elections and outlawed all forms of private contributions, there would be no mega donors to influence politicians. Nobody should be able to influence an election with anything more than their vote. And to make sure money doesn't get a say, there should be lengthy prison sentences and significant asset forfeiture for anyone who tries to use money to influence an election.
hitman2218 on April 17th, 2023 at 08:32 UTC »
This is all that matters. This guy may not like Trump or DeSantis but he’s not going to stand by and let a Democrat win.