DeSantis Megadonor: Campaign Needs To Change Before I Give More

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis needs to make major changes to his 2024 GOP presidential campaign before his top donor, billionaire Robert Bigelow, provides another cent.

The largest individual contributor to the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC, handing down more than $20 million in March, informed Reuters on Friday that DeSantis needs “to shift to get moderates.”

“He’ll lose if he doesn’t,” Bigelow emphasized. “Extremism isn’t going to get you elected.

“A lot of his donors are still on the fence,” the hotel and aerospace entrepreneur continued, adding that he was not planning on contributing more until the governor is “able to generate more on his own.”

Bigelow singled out Florida’s recent law banning abortions after six weeks, except in cases where a woman’s life is threatened. Rape or incest are also exceptions until 15 weeks of pregnancy if a police report is provided.

His comments arrive as DeSantis’ campaign has slashed nearly 40% of its staff following decreased poll numbers “following a top-to-bottom review of our organization.”

According to data from FiveThirtyEight, DeSantis was within two percentage points of former President Donald Trump in February, but that margin has extended to 39 points in Trump’s favor as of Thursday.

“A top-to-bottom makeover and real accountability may be the only thing that saves Ron DeSantis, but even then, you still have the governor at the top,” an anonymous major Republican donor who has been backing DeSantis told Rolling Stone.

However, he contended, it “is getting harder and harder by the day to see not just his people as the problem, but him as the problem.”