Republican megadonor Stephen A. Schwarzman told Bloomberg on Tuesday that he expects the party’s 2024 presidential primaries to get more “volatile.”
Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone and onetime backer of former President Donald Trump, also said he agreed with polls that showed concerns over politicians’ age, reiterating that he was focused on the next generation of leaders.
“American politics, I’ve found at the presidential level, is pretty volatile,” Schwarzman said. “The people you think are going to win – whether it was [former Democrat candidate] Hillary [Clinton] in 2016 – and they didn’t win.”
“In 2015, … you had Jeb Bush in second place. … And by the time there were two or three primaries, they were all gone. And somebody named Donald Trump [was made nominee] – one who wasn’t even in the game.”
Because of the ups and downs in previous primaries, Schwarzman said he believes 2024 will be similar.
“Apparently, the public is not that interested in really older people,” he noted, specifically pointing to President Joe Biden. It’s a situation where “usually something else happens,” he contended.
Mediaite reported that Schwarzman initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis but has since paused donations to him and supported Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Schwarzman is among some Republican megadonors who previously pledged to Trump or DeSantis but is looking for another option.
Kenneth C. Griffin, founder of Citadel LLC, and Budget Suites of America owner Robert Bigelow are other examples. Bigelow gave tens of millions to DeSantis before recently pausing his donations.
Trump is still the favorite to win the GOP primaries, maintaining a nearly 40 percentage-point lead in the race ahead of DeSantis for months, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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