Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is making his way to the concrete jungle for a presidential campaign fundraiser that has Wall Street buzzing, CNBC reports.
Hosted by a group of high-powered financial executives, the event is stirring up controversy due to the ties to liberal billionaire George Soros, a target of DeSantis and his fellow Republicans.
Scheduled for June 29 at the exclusive Yale Club, the fundraiser marks one of DeSantis' initial forays into the Big Apple since officially launching his presidential campaign last month. In order to grab a host spot, a donation of $50,000 has to be met; for lunch attendees, it's $6,600.
The spotlight has turned to one of the hosts, Christian Michalik,. Before co-founding Kinderhook, Michalik served as a partner at Soros Private Equity Partners. Michalik's association with the Soros firm dates back to 1999, when he joined as a partner until his departure in 2003.
According to OpenSecrets, Michalik has made occasional donations to Republican officials. In 2006, he made a significant contribution of $10,000 to the Republican Party of Florida. In the 2022 election cycle, he donated $5,800 to Jesse Reising, a Republican candidate who was unsuccessful in securing an Illinois House seat during the primaries.
DeSantis has been vocal about his disapproval of political candidates who accept donations from Soros, a prominent Democratic donor. During a speech on the campaign trail earlier this month, DeSantis stated that "in Florida we've recognized the menace posed by left wing prosecutors who get elected usually with big campaign contributions from people like George Soros."
Speaking on the connection to the former Soros associate, a spokesman for DeSantis, Bryan Griffin, told CNBC that "Governor DeSantis enjoys broad support, including from Disney expats and even a former Soros employee who rejects the woke and embraces law and order. We will gladly utilize any contributions to oppose Soros' agenda and benefit the American people."
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