Wealthy Nikki Haley donors launch effort to boost Biden over Trump: report

Wealthy donors to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s now-suspended presidential campaign are flocking to support President Biden’s re-election bid.

Businessman and media mogul Harry Sloan – a prominent former backer of Haley’s campaign – said during a recent interview with CNBC that he’d undertaken an effort to convince his wealthy friends and Republican business leaders to get behind Biden.

“People I know who are generally business Republicans, they’re going to hear from me,” Sloan told the outlet, admitting he had already reached out to a number of people, and planned to eventually host a fundraiser for Biden as the campaign progresses.

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Harry Sloan, co-founder of Global Eagle Acquisition Corp., listens before an interview at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on April 29, 2014. (Getty Images)

One source familiar with the effort told the outlet that at least half a dozen former Haley donors had already signed on to lend the Biden campaign a hand.

According to the report, Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, along with campaign finance chair Rufus Gifford, initiated the effort as part of a larger goal of attracting former Haley supporters disenchanted with the idea of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president for a third time.

When asked about the effort, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital, “Americans from all backgrounds, including Republicans, Independents and disillusioned Democrats, are coalescing around President Trump and joining the greatest political movement in history so we can end Joe Biden’s chaos and make America strong, safe, and successful again.”

Fox News Digital has also reached out to Sloan for comment.

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President Biden, former President Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (Getty Images)

In a January post on Truth Social one day after his victory over Haley in the New Hampshire primary, Trump issued a stark threat to those continuing to support the former South Carolina governor.

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!” Trump wrote.

Haley ultimately dropped out of the race following an abysmal Super Tuesday performance, but notably did not endorse the former president.

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Former President Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Although Trump currently trails Biden in campaign cash, he is aiming to even the playing field with the formation of his own joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee (RNC), something the president’s campaign has already enjoyed alongside the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Trump is also looking to get a boost from his own wealthy supporters, including at a fundraising event in Palm Beach, Florida, next month hosted by billionaire investor and hedge fund founder John Paulson.

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According to the latest filings this week with the Federal Election Commission, Biden’s re-election campaign outraised the Trump campaign by a two-to-one margin last month and enjoyed a $71 million to $34 million cash-on-hand advantage as of the end of February.

Meanwhile, the DNC outraised the RNC by nearly $6 million last month. It also reported $26.5 million in its coffers at the end of February, compared to $11.3 million cash-on-hand for the RNC.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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