Two top allies of former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, the day after Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign, that they will not support the former president.
Stephen Schwarzman, a billionaire investor, said in a statement early on Wednesday that he would not support Trump in the Republican Party primaries for president.
“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman said. “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.”
Later in the day, Ronald Lauder, a billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, announced through his spokesperson that he would not support Trump’s new campaign for president.
The spokesperson did not indicate who Lauder would support in 2024, but a report from CNBC noted that he has repeatedly given to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Citadel founder Ken Griffin, a Republican megadonor who is worth approximately $30 billion, recently took a shot at the former president, saying, “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 has given millions to DeSantis’ political operation and said that DeSantis is “going to run on a record of just unbelievable accomplishment.”
Griffin indicated he had a strong disgust for the woke indoctrination that is taking place in many schools across the country and stated he will back DeSantis if he runs for office.
The hedge fund CEO, who is worth approximately $30 billion, recently relocated his business from Chicago to Florida, and it wasn’t for the tax benefits.
“It’s gonna get me thrown out of here, but taxes weren’t part of our decision to come to Florida,” Griffin said this week. “When you’ve got great schools, a great environment and your streets are safe and clean, that’s when you’ve got a place you want to live in and call home. There’s something very special about the government in Florida and their focus on delivering traditional values for the community.”
Griffin specifically talked about the damage that woke schools had on his children in Chicago and how he has watched his kids flourish in Florida’s education system.
“My children went to a phenomenal school in Chicago … but their indoctrination in woke ideology was crushing,” Griffin said. “They came home very confused about whether or not the United States was a good country. And they came home confused about what they could or couldn’t say to a student who was Asian or otherwise of color.”
“My son was reprimanded for telling an Asian student he was good at math — for stereotyping,” Griffin continued. “And it’s unbelievable to see how that destroys the minds of children who are otherwise innocent and good and don’t think about these kinds of things.”
“Watching them transform here in school in Miami is perhaps the greatest gift Miami has given my family,” Griffin added.