To seduce Trump, vice presidential hopefuls show off their rich friends

During his 2016 campaign, Donald J. Trump orchestrated a takeover of the Republican Party, in part by blaming wealthy political donors for corruption and delivering a populist message that appealed to working-class voters.

Eight years later, one of his main decision points in choosing a vice presidential candidate concerns ties to the super rich.

As the end of the selection process nears, with an announcement expected in the next two weeks after months of suggestions and misinformation, Republican candidates are seeking to convince Mr. Trump that they have the financial support behind them that could help turn the race around.

There are other factors that could contribute to a good match. Mr. Trump would be disciplined in his consideration of candidates on the campaign trail who would not steal his precious spotlight and who would fare well in a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

But money does matter, and some Republican donors with direct access to Mr. Trump have left unmistakable imprints on his selection process. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, for example, emerged as a leading contender late in the selection process after persistent lobbying by Steve Wynn, the billionaire former casino magnate and close friend of Mr. Trump. Mr. Wynn has also played a role in persuading other donors, such as Elon Musk, to give more support to the campaign.

Many vice presidential candidates, including some outside contenders familiar with financial dynamics, have responded, boasting and sometimes exaggerating how much they could raise for their ticket. This posture, in some cases, has aroused mockery from certain Republican donors, who feel like they are being used as pawns in an internal war.

But the most successful financial maneuvers have come from the three contenders who are now considered the top candidates for the job: Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

Mr. Burgum, a former software executive who sold a company to Microsoft, has an estimated net worth of at least $100 million, according to Forbes, suggesting he could inject some of his fortune into the race. Last year, he spent more than $10 million on his own short- and long-term presidential bids.

He also sought to demonstrate his fundraising potential for Mr. Trump by attracting wealthy first-time donors to the president's camp. On Tuesday, Mr. Burgum held a video conference with donors where the campaign asked for $10,000 to simply join the call and $25,000 to participate in a question-and-answer session, according to a copy of the invitation.

Tom Siebel, a billionaire technology investor, wrote his first $500,000 check to Mr. Trump because Mr. Burgum was in the race for the Republican ticket. Dick Boyce, a longtime Republican fundraiser in Silicon Valley and former chairman of Burger King and Del Monte Foods, said he also made his second donation to Mr. Trump, a $100,000 contribution, in part because of his regard for Mr. Burgum, who was a classmate at Stanford Business School.

“I’m inclined to do more with Doug as vice president, and the complementarity between him and Trump would give a lot more people confidence, too,” Mr. Boyce, a former partner at Bain & Company, said in an interview. “The vice president is someone you could imagine being president, not someone who could move a certain state forward, and sometimes you lose sight of that.”

Then there's Mr. Vance. A former venture capitalist, Mr. Vance hosted a $12 million fundraiser in Silicon Valley this month, part of an attempt to showcase his ability to attract donations from the technology industry.

Despite these efforts and Mr. Vance’s rise in Trump’s world, Mr. Vance’s biggest donor remains a glaring opponent: Silicon Valley megadonor Peter Thiel. Mr. Thiel, who invested $15 million to elect Mr. Vance to the Senate in 2022 and previously employed him, said definitively on Thursday for the first time that he would not be a major financial supporter of Mr. Trump, as he was in 2016. And it doesn’t appear that Mr. Vance’s appointment to the ticket would change that.

“If you put a gun to my head, I’ll vote for Trump,” Thiel said at the Aspen Ideas festival. “I won’t give money to his super PAC.”

Mr. Rubio, who built a formidable fundraising operation for his own presidential bid in 2016, could be an attractive option for Republican donors and groups who helped invest more than $146 million in an effort nomination of former Southern Gov. Nikki Haley. Carolina, who was Mr. Trump's last primary opponent this year.

Ms. Haley's supporters include some prominent Republican holdouts in the billionaire class, such as hedge-fund titans Paul Singer and Kenneth Griffin.

And then there are outside competitors like Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who has aggressively sought to position himself as the darling of the donor class, claiming support from people like Mr. Singer and Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle. A week ago in Washington, Mr. Scott held a meeting for supporters of his new political group that three attendees said lacked much subtlety about its goal.

The event, they said, was a show of support from wealthy Republican donors. Speakers included billionaires like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, billionaire investor Bill Ackman, oil developer Tim Dunn and Marc Rowan, the chief executive of investment firm Apollo Global Management.

Some donors connected to the event chafed at the way Scott’s team and the media implicitly positioned them as supporters of the Trump-Scott ticket, according to a person familiar with those donors. In fact, the person said, many people signed up for Mr. Scott’s event believing he was likely to become the next powerful chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. An aide to Mr. Scott declined to comment.

Mr. Scott didn’t talk much about the vice presidency, or even Mr. Trump, at the event, according to two attendees. And while he has attracted some big-money potential donors, many of Scott’s big supporters say they are pessimistic about his chances in the veepstakes.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/us/politics/trump-vice-president-donors.html The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos