Top Republican Donors Have a Hail Mary for 2024: Glenn Youngkin

The incredible staying power of Donald Trump has given way to a sense of dejection among the Republican donor class. Their hope had been that, at this point in the election process, another GOP candidate would at least be close to matching Trump’s support among Republican voters, who still favor the former president by a long shot.

And yet, Republican power brokers are still searching for salvation. According to a Washington Post op-ed, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin will be urged to enter the 2024 race next month at a Virginia Beach gathering of party donors who are rallying for this year’s Virginia General Assembly elections. Organizers have even landed on a cloying nickname for the conference: The “Red Vest Retreat,” a reference to the signature fleece Youngkin donned in his gubernatorial campaign two years ago.

Thomas Peterffy, a Republican billionaire and leading Youngkin donor, told Post contributor Robert Costa that the governor “appears to be leaving the door open” for a presidential campaign. “And if Republicans win in Virginia, maybe we can talk him into it,” Peterffy said, adding that “the money would be there.” William Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, was similarly supportive. “I’m for whoever can beat Trump in the primary and, while I still think some of the current candidates can do this, I’d welcome Youngkin putting his oar in,” Barr commented to the Post. “If the governor indicated he’d to it, I believe he would draw serious support and be a strong candidate.” They’re not alone: Rupert Murdoch has reportedly met with Youngkin on at least two separate occasions to encourage him to run.

In the event that he does run, it would presumably be after Virginia’s November 7 elections, leaving Youngkin supporters scant time to get his name on primary ballots across the country. He would then require a frenzied advertising and door-knocking push to promote his brand and platform before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses are held on January 15. In other words, the whole scenario feels more like a Hail Mary than an actionable plan.

There is also a steep cost-benefit analysis for Youngkin—that is, the infinitesimal chance of actually beating Trump versus the very real chance that he suffers an embarrassing loss that could harm his political future. Fear of Trump’s mudslinging abilities appears to be top of mind: “Glenn cringes when he thinks about what Trump would do,” a person close to the governor told the Post.

At only 56, the prudent thing for Youngkin would be to sit this race out and run in a future, Trump-less cycle. But for now, the governor seems to be intent on keeping his mouth shut. Youngkin is “super careful to say little,” one person who has pitched Youngkin on 2024 told the Post. He has also chosen to remain conspicuously mum on the current primary field, despite his own issues with Trump. “I think voters should choose,” Youngkin said at an event Tuesday.

Youngkin has likewise deployed an aw-shucks, gee-whiz touch to downplay questions about his White House ambitions. “Do you feel a responsibility for your party and for your country to jump in this race?” he was asked by Fox News anchor Sandra Smith on Thursday. “Let me begin with how humbling this is,” Youngkin replied. “Forty years ago I’m washing dishes and taking out trash in the Belvedere Hotel, and today people are throwing my name around in a national context. I’m new at this.” (Youngkin previously helmed a multibillion-dollar private equity firm, before which he worked at McKinsey & Company.)

As for Trump’s indomitability, Win it Back PAC, a conservative anti-Trump group, has nothing to show for the reported $6 million it dumped into attack ads against the former president in Iowa and South Carolina. “Even when you show video to Republican primary voters—with complete context—of President Trump saying something otherwise objectionable to primary voters, they find a way to rationalize and dismiss it,” Win it Back’s David McIntosh explained in a Thursday memo obtained by The New York Times. “Every traditional postproduction ad attacking President Trump either backfired or produced no impact on his ballot support and favorability.”