Robert Mercer has been described as one of trump’s biggest financial backers. Jane Mayer in March 2017:
During the past decade, Mercer, who is seventy, has funded an array of political projects that helped pave the way for Trump’s rise. Among these efforts was public-opinion research, conducted by (Pat) Caddell, showing that political conditions in America were increasingly ripe for an outsider candidate to take the White House. Caddell told me that Mercer “is a libertarian—he despises the Republican establishment,” and added, “He thinks that the leaders are corrupt crooks, and that they’ve ruined the country.”
Several people who have worked with Mercer believe that, despite his oddities, he has had surprising success in aligning the Republican Party, and consequently America, with his personal beliefs, and is now uniquely positioned to exert influence over the Trump Administration. In February, David Magerman, a senior employee at Renaissance, spoke out about what he regards as Mercer’s worrisome influence. Magerman, a Democrat who is a strong supporter of Jewish causes, took particular issue with Mercer’s empowerment of the alt-right, which has included anti-Semitic and white-supremacist voices… he published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, accusing Mercer of “effectively buying shares in the candidate.” He warned, “Robert Mercer now owns a sizeable share of the United States Presidency.”
Nick Patterson, a former senior Renaissance employee who is now a computational biologist at the Broad Institute, agrees that Mercer’s influence has been huge. “Bob has used his money very effectively,” he said. “He’s not the first person in history to use money in politics, but in my view Trump wouldn’t be President if not for Bob. It doesn’t get much more effective than that.”
Well, it seems Robert Mercer has had enough of the public scrutiny generated by his support of trumpism. CNBC reports today:
Robert Mercer typically avoids public scrutiny, but his involvement with Trump thrust him into the political arena — an unwelcome development for him.
"They've disappeared," a prominent Republican bundler told CNBC, referring to Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, another prominent GOP backer. "I think they just don't like being in the spotlight," this person added.
"He's out," said a former associate of Mercer. "He's not going to play any major role going forward. They're tired of the attacks from the Democrats and the media constantly ganging up on them."
It’s a lengthy article that details all the ways that Mercer influenced the election, including his investment in Cambridge Analytica and the fallout therefrom. It’s not clear whether Mercer is withdrawing from the political scene permanently or just until trump leaves office.
But in the short term, this is good news for Team Blue:
Political strategists believe Mercer's lack of involvement this year should sound the alarm for Republicans looking for assistance in the fundraising game when they fight for Trump's re-election in 2020.
As they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant!