AOL
Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid, told Reuters on Friday he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.
The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis “Never Back Down” super PAC in March, underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor’s struggling campaign, which has been unable to make a dent in former President Donald Trump’s huge lead for the 2024 Republican nomination.
“He does need to shift to get to moderates. He’ll lose if he doesn’t … Extremism isn’t going to get you elected,” Bigelow said in an interview, adding that he had communicated these concerns to DeSantis’ campaign.
When asked which specific policies Bigelow did not support, Bigelow cited only DeSantis signing in April a bill passed by the Florida legislature banning abortions after six weeks, a move that came after Bigelow had donated the $20 million.
Bigelow said he would not donate more money for now. “Not until I see that he’s able to generate more on his own. I’m already too big a percentage,” Bigelow said. “A lot of his donors are still on the fence.”
Bigelow, the founder of Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, said he wasn’t waiting for an exact fundraising figure, but that “it’s going to be a lot.”
In a statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign, Bryan Griffin, said they were “grateful” to supporters and donors who gave them “the capacity to compete for the long haul,” without addressing Bigelow directly.
Bigelow’s comments will likely stoke perceptions that DeSantis, once a donor darling expected to put up a real fight against Trump, is in a downward spiral as his right-wing social policies and wooden personality fail to excite voters.
DeSantis has been running to the right of Trump despite many Republican strategists saying he should instead be trying to court moderates concerned about Trump’s policies and electability…
