Some of the Republican Party’s wealthiest donors have finally ditched former President Donald Trump and are instead opening their checkbooks for other potential 2024 candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, CNBC reports, citing interviews with multiple fundraisers. The catalyst was not the Jan. 6 insurrection but the cascading bombshells coming out of the public hearings held by the House committee probing the riot. After a former aide testified Tuesday that Trump tried to strangle a Secret Service agent, one Republican donor who gave generously in 2020 told CNBC, “I don’t think any major donor with business interests would support a Trump presidential run after today’s hearing.” Even real estate pals in New York are having second thoughts after he took “major hits” during the hearings, the report says. Trump nevertheless has a track record of raising vast amounts from small donations.
