Sure, all the establishment Republicans whine about Trump. But what are all those GOP One Percenters doing about it? Nada, reports Politico.
The party’s elite donor class has mostly closed its checkbooks to groups dedicated to stopping Trump, while the outfits that have built massive reserves are increasingly deciding to forgo anti-Trump campaigns, despite widespread fears that he is making a mockery of conservatism and could undermine Republicans up and down the ballot.
The deepest-pocketed operation on the right, the network helmed by the billionaires Charles and David Koch, had seriously debated launching an aggressive assault on Trump, but sources familiar with the network's planning tell POLITICO that’s now highly unlikely. And the Karl Rove-conceived Crossroads outfits also are sitting out the party’s bitter primary, instead spending their cash attacking Democrats.
That's what a lot of 'em say: We don't want to provide the Dems with any attacks against Trump ahead of time in case he's the nominee. Others say, nothing has worked so far (waah!). So they're basically just rolling out the red carpet for the guy. Apparently having a Republican in office is totally worth it, even if he's trashing their already-tattered brand for generations to come.
Also, they're scared. Turns out billionaires can be pretty wussy.
“We would totally donate to you if we could do it anonymously; we’re worried about Trump taking reprisals against us for donating to this,” [Liz] Mair said, parroting reactions she’s heard from donors. “Suffice to say, there are a lot of people out there who want to stop Trump and are willing to donate to do it,” she said. “They’re just the rank and file of the base, not the establishment donors.”
Mair's anti-Trump PAC Make America Awesome has raised a meager $10,000 since its founding in December. Donors are worried about threats like the one Trump made against Chicago billionaire Marlene Ricketts, who donated $3 million to the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC.
If a warning shot like that is enough to keep certain billionaires from standing on principle, then they’re as useless as their billions are.