Imagine you are a billionaire Republican megadonor. The 2024 presidential election is less than 14 months away. You run down to the store to buy yourself a candidate. But you cannot find one you like. Do you hold your nose and purchase the best available? Or are you like Ken Griffin, who looks at the shoddy merchandise and leaves without buying?
In most circumstances, the native Floridian Griffin would have snapped up a Ron doll — he gave $5 million to DeSantis’ 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign — but he hates the new version. It is not just DeSantis. Griffin cannot find one potential challenger to Trump worth the price, and his checkbook is still in a desk drawer.
As he explains in an upcoming interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen:
“I’m still on the sidelines as to who to support in this election cycle. Look, if I had my dream, we’d have a great Republican candidate in the primary who was younger, of a different generation, with a different tone for America. And we’d have a younger person on the Democratic side in the primary, who would have his message for our country… We’d have a debate around ideas and principles and policies to make this a great nation. We’re not having that dialogue right now.”
I do not know what the cut-off age is for Griffin to consider someone “a different generation.” However, as he is 54, I’ll arbitrarily use that as the line. Besides DeSantis, this restriction still leaves Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Will Hurd as potential recipients of his political bribery. Therefore, their exclusion from his consideration makes them both not great and incorrectly toned in Griffin’s eyes.
Griffin does have a list of requisites for his financial assistance. In a statement released by CNBC, he says:
“As the presidential campaigns unfold, I am assessing how the policies of each candidate will address the challenges facing our country. I care deeply about individual rights and freedom, economic policies that encourage prosperity and upward mobility, all children having access to a high-quality education, ensuring our communities are safe, and a strong national defense.”
Griffin does not explain why the various candidates are not checking his boxes. If I were to guess, it is that no GOP candidate is talking about any of those things. This silence is not surprising as the base is not looking for policies. They are like the audience at a Roman Circus looking for blood in the sand. Or, in modern terms, they view the presidential race through a WWE lens.
Griffin wants to see some flesh on the bones. MAGAs need a dish of red meat.
Only DeSantis gets an individual review. It is a one-star pan. A year ago, the GOP’s can’t-miss golden boy was the toast of the town. Griffin was a fan. Before the wooden man launched a run for the White House, he said
“Our country would be well-served by [DeSantis] as president.”
But that was then. Now Griffin says, referring to DeSantis’ 2024 campaign,
“I don’t know his strategy. It’s not clear to me what voter base he is intending to appeal to.”
Nobody knows outside of Ron’s campaign. And I suspect that even within the campaign, few if any, have an idea who they intend to appeal to. It is possible that they have not even considered the question — that the campaign is merely an opportunity for DeSantis to use donor money to spread his inherent bigotry with the belief that millions of conservatives share his “values.”
He may be right. But even if he is, those uncivil people already have a far more entertaining lightning rod for their bigotry. Griffin does explain his problem with DeSantis beyond Ron’s lack of strategy,
“The ongoing battle with Disney, I think, is pointless. It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida.”
Who knew it was possible to damage Florida’s reputation? Perhaps, as Griffin is a local guy, he still believes there is more to his home state than the sun and beaches and the opportunity for grifters to make a fast buck.
There is also the distinct possibility that Griffin is being disingenuous. He’s a savvy guy who sees that none of the also-rans have any shot of taking out the MAGA godhead — and he will not waste his money. But if Griffin keeps dangling cash, he will still be ready to get in the game should something prevent Trump from making the finish line.
