Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 Presidential Election on Nov. 15.
After his announcement, the former president has seen a large number of major donors to the Republican party abandon him, including much of the Republican business establishment.
They believe that the time for the new generation has come.
“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer of private equity titan Blackstone (BX) – Get Free Report, said one day after Trump announced his candidacy.
“It is time for the Republican party to turn to a new generation of leaders, and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries,” said Schwarzman, who donated $3.7 million during Trump’s first term to committees that supported the controversial president.
‘Three-Time Loser’
Billionaire Ken Griffin, another major Republican donor and the chief executive officer of renowned alternative investment firm Citadel, was also one of Trump’s staunchest critics, calling on the real estate magnate to retire from politics.
“I’d like to think that the Republican party is ready to move on from somebody who has been for this party a three-time loser,” Griffin said, referring to the Republican Party’s poor performance in the 2018 mid-term elections, Trump’s own defeat in the 2020 presidential election, and the GOP’s worse-than-expected performance in the 2022 mid-terms.
