A Republican megadonor who manages an investment fund named after Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan is flipping his support to Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"I'm in for DeSantis this time," Point Bridge Capital founder Hal Lambert told the New York Post. "I plan to do a lot to help DeSantis win."
DeSantis has yet to officially declare for the 2024 GOP presidential primary, but he is widely expected to do so this week, and his political team has pointed to the rising tide of campaign funding before the looming filing and announcement as proof of DeSantis' power.
"Much to the media's chagrin, this proves that donors continue to be impressed by Gov. DeSantis and support him in bringing his successes to the national stage," DeSantis political team press secretary Bryan Griffin wrote in a statement Monday to Newsmax.
"Clearly the media's shared talking points for that narrative were yet again backed by nothing but their agenda."
Lambert's MAGA ETF is an exchange-traded fund that invests in Republican-supporting companies, the Post reported.
After having served on Trump's 2016 inaugural committee, Lambert told the Post a dinner with DeSantis and his wife Casey in Florida three weeks ago impressed him enough to garner his endorsement.
"Ron is good at giving a message," Lambert told the Post, calling Casey DeSantis "amazing."
"She will be a real asset."
Lambert fears Trump will not flip support after the 2020 presidential election cycle and does not want the GOP nominee narrative being anything but a referendum on President Joe Biden.
"What voters who didn't vote for Trump in 2020 are going to vote for him this time based on his performance? I don't think anyone will," Lambert told the Post.
"We can't talk about things from four years ago that can't be changed. Trump is going to have a difficult time winning the general election. The election won't be about Joe Biden's bad record. It will be a referendum on Trump instead."
Trump fired back in a Truth Social post.
"I've won two elections, the second far bigger than the first (it was rigged!), my endorsement is considered, far and away, the most powerful in political history," Trump wrote Monday morning. "I'm blowing away DeSanctimonious in the polls, and am leading Biden & Harris big, whereas DeSanctus is losing to both. I have gotten more people elected than any other human being.
"Yet I have to listen to these liddle' lightweights like 'Ron' say I can't win. Like the Dems, it's just disinformation. The truth is, they can't win!!!"
Lambert told the Post that it is "going to be a battle" for anyone to beat Trump, but predicted Trump's polling support will eventually drop "under 50%."
"DeSantis is a leader who knows how to govern, not just have news headlines and slogans," Lambert told the Post. "You have to beat Trump and not alienate Trump's voters. We need them to win the general election."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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