From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, wealthy donors have thrown tens of millions of dollars at Republican US presidential candidate Nikki Haley in an effort to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
They have learned a hard lesson: Big money can’t win the Republican presidential nomination — at least not against Trump, who holds the support of a wide majority of the party’s voters.
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Pro-Haley forces outspent the main outside group supporting the former president’s candidacy by more than two to one over the past year, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The SFA Fund Inc, the main pro-Haley super PAC, has so far reported spending more than $70 million backing her run over the last year, and a super PAC affiliated with billionaire Charles Koch reported spending around $40 million to support Haley or oppose Trump.
In contrast, the main pro-Trump super PAC, known as MAGA Inc, reported spending about $50 million over the same period.
Despite that, Trump romped to two strong wins, first in Iowa on Jan. 15, and then on Tuesday in New Hampshire.
While Haley has vowed to carry on, Trump has driven all of his other rivals out of the race and has all but clinched the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in the November general election.
In interviews with around a dozen donors and strategists who opposed Trump, a feeling of powerlessness seeped through.
