With all the talk of legalized corruption, it should be good news that money can’t always buy an election — case in point, Jeb Bush. But even months after the once-inevitable GOP frontrunner dropped out, GOP megadonors have been actively throwing money at Trump’s opponents, without catching a break.
“John Kasich’s campaign took in $4.5 million and his supporting super PAC $2.8 million for the month,” The Hill reported, also stating that “Ted Cruz took in just $12.5 million in March — less than half of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s campaign haul.”
Any average person would look at these numbers and think, that’s a lot of money. But it’s actually not enough money.
“Many of these donors spent millions on the super PACs supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former favorites who dropped out of the race after getting throttled by Donald Trump,” the Hill said.
Ana Kasparian, cohost of The Young Turks, weighed in on these matters Monday night. “My favorite thing about all these articles when they talk about the change in fundraising is comparing it to the other side, and they do it a bit to Hillary, but very often you’ll get references like, which is as much as one day for Bernie Sanders and it’s great that on the Ted Cruz side they have billionaires who can’t come close to matching Bernie Sanders,” she said.
As a result, billionaires are dropping out.
“I have been called and asked for money, and I said, ‘Once we pick a nominee, then I will give money again,'” Minnesota billionaire Stanley Hubbard admitted. According to the Hill, Hubbard “gave an early $50,000 donation to a pro-Scott Walker super PAC but has made no significant investment since.” Though $50,000 wouldn’t even come close to buying a table at the Hillary Victory Fund’s latest fundraiser with the Clooneys, pointed out John Iadarola of ThinkTank.
“The problem is that nobody prefers either of those two candidates [Trump or Cruz], and the third candidate [Kasich] no one thinks he has a chance, so why waste your money?” Hubbard told The Hill.
Some of the super-rich who want their money to speak louder in politics are furious.
“Somebody should be indicted over Right to Rise,” Doug Deason, a multimillionaire Texas businessman claimed.
The Right to Rise super PAC spent over $100 million attempting to make Jeb Bush the Republican nominee, and failed miserably. Deason’s family “spent $5 million supporting Rick Perry and has now thrown $200,000 behind a Cruz super PAC,” the Hill reported.
“Money in politics continues to be a huge problem,” Kasparian said. “At the same time it’s nice to see instances of failure — where money in politics actually hurts the donors a little bit.”
Watch The Young Turks discuss why GOP mega-donors are throwing in the towel:
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Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
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