Ken Griffin casts doubt on Nikki Haley’s hopes after $5mn donation

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Ken Griffin gave a pro-Nikki Haley super Pac $5mn in December and January, boosting her campaign even as the hedge fund billionaire has cast doubt on her chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed the donations to SFA Fund were made before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Her losses to Donald Trump in those contests have raised questions about donors’ willingness to keep funding her campaign. Griffin, one of her top donors, admitted on CNBC that her path forward was “a narrower road than it was eight weeks ago”.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Citadel founder praised the former UN ambassador’s leadership record before saying that he would focus on funding Republican efforts to win control of Congress in November’s election. Republicans hold the House of Representatives by only a slim majority and could flip the Senate in November.

“While voters decide on who will serve as the Republican party’s nominee for president, I will continue my focus on actively supporting US House and Senate candidates prioritising economic freedom and a strong defence of America at home and abroad,” Griffin said.

Haley has pledged to campaign on to the February 24 primary in South Carolina, where she served as governor. But Griffin expressed doubt that she could defeat Trump in part due to geopolitical unrest, including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel.

“I think we all felt safer with Trump as president than we do right now,” he told CNBC.

“I think there’s a sense of do we want to return to a president who’s just viewed as more powerful, more in charge, and that’s going to be difficult for Nikki to overcome right now,” added Griffin. “Her poise? Admirable. Her foreign policy experience? Tremendous. Her ability to unite this country? Phenomenal. I just don’t know, though, that at this moment that’s going to get her where she needs to get to in South Carolina and thereafter.”

Trump had a “record of success” as president, Griffin said, as he criticised some states’ legal efforts to take the Republican frontrunner off the ballot for allegedly inciting an insurrection to overturn his 2020 loss. Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in December to disqualify him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

“For all of the talk of Trump taking away democracy, I got to tell you, American voters are really disturbed by what happened in Colorado,” Griffin told CNBC. “To be blunt, he’s the martyr right now.”

Asked if he would support President Joe Biden or Trump, Griffin said he would get involved in congressional races and praised Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick, a former Bridgewater Associates chief executive.

Griffin gave $10mn to a super Pac supporting McCormick — twice as much as his donations to SFA Fund — and another $5mn to a super Pac backing Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, according to the person familiar with his contributions.

Earlier in the presidential race Griffin had been expected to be Ron DeSantis’ biggest backer, but he stepped back before the Florida governor called time on his campaign this month over concerns that DeSantis had steered to far to the right.

Last week, Trump said anyone who contributed to Haley would be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp”. Deep-pocketed financiers Stanley Druckenmiller, Cliff Asness, Ken Langone and Henry Kravis were scheduled to co-host a Haley fundraiser in New York on Tuesday, although a representative for Langone said he would not be attending.

Lawyer Eric Levine, a co-host of the fundraiser, told the FT they had a “huge turnout” with a “very enthusiastic crowd.”

“She’s in it for the long haul,” he added.

Haley campaign officials have used Trump’s threat to their advantage, selling T-shirts that say, “Barred. Permanently.” They say they have raised $4mn since losing the New Hampshire primary and are putting the money to use. The Haley campaign and two super Pacs — SFA Fund and Americans for Prosperity — are spending roughly $2.4mn on ads this week and next, according to AdImpact, while Trump-supporting groups are spending relatively little.

Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who made early investments in companies including Tesla, told the Financial Times last week that Haley’s donors were not frightened by Trump’s threat.

“I think donors are redoubling their efforts,” Draper said, adding that he had given $3mn to support Haley. “I think desperate men do desperate things, and people will see it for what it was: a desperate act by someone who should not be the president this time.”