Ron DeSantis’s Donor Problems Are Giving His Pudding Problems a Run for Their Money: Report

The biggest problem facing Ron DeSantis at the moment is that when people think of him, they think of a grown man eating chocolate pudding with three fingers in place of a spoon and, more than likely, getting said pudding all over his face. The second biggest problem is that Donald Trump is beating him by double digits in the race for the GOP nomination. Rounding out the top three? That the mega-donors DeSantis previously relied on for massive checks have effectively lost his number.

Yes, just days after the leaking of audio in which the chief strategist of the pro-DeSantis super PAC is heard telling wealthy would-be benefactors, “We need 50 million bucks,” comes word that a significant number of donors who helped underwrite DeSantis‘s political ambitions in the past want nothing to do with him, financially speaking. “I think he’s done a terrific job as governor of Florida, and I’ve been, as I think you know, a big supporter of him in that role,” former Illinois governor Bruce Rauner, who contributed tens of thousands of dollars to DeSantis’s 2022 reelection bid, told Politico. “[But] I think Nikki Haley probably has the best chance to win the general election.” Rauner has not given any money to DeSantis since last year—and he’s far from the only one closing his checkbook. Per Politico:

Of the 50 donors who gave at least $160,000 in the years leading up to his 2022 reelection campaign, only 16—less than a third—provided funds to the super PAC Never Back Down, which can receive unlimited contributions, through the end of June. Eight other major donors gave directly to his presidential campaign but not the super PAC. The top 50 list includes five donors who are now financially supporting rival presidential candidates. And of those who are giving money to the DeSantis campaign or his super PAC, five are splitting their funds with other candidates.

In August, Robert Bigelow, who donated a whopping $20 million to DeSantis’s super PAC, said he wouldn’t give the governor another dime “until I see that he’s able to generate more [contributions] on his own.” Billionaire Ken Griffin, one of DeSantis’s biggest 2022 campaign donors, has likewise kept his money to himself, saying he is “assessing how the policies of each candidate will address the challenges facing our country.” And last spring, Thomas Peterffy, who reportedly contributed $3.6 million to DeSantis’s reelection, told the Financial Times that he and “a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry” because of DeSantis’s extreme positions on social issues; according to Politico, Peterffy has since contributed $2 million to a political committee supporting Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, who some wealthy donors hope will jump into the Republican primary.

While DeSantis’s Never Back Down super PAC has a not-so-insignificant $97 million in its coffers, as Politico notes, a huge chunk of that money came from “an $82 million transfer from the Florida-based political committee that backed DeSantis’s reelection bid.” In other words, the cash was not actually donated by people trying to get him elected president.

In a statement, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign insisted the donor exodus is much ado about nothing, and that no one is in any way freaking the f–k out. “Ron DeSantis outraised both Biden and Trump last quarter, and we continue to see overwhelming enthusiasm from grassroots and major supporters chipping in to help our campaign,” he told Politico. “We look forward to continued fundraising success this quarter as we capitalize on his strong debate performance and momentum in the early states.”