On Friday, a Toronto-based new agency revealed an exclusive interview with entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. Bigelow, as well as being a real estate and aerospace mogul, is one of Ron DeSantis’ biggest donors in the Florida governor’s race for the White House for 2024.
Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the Never Back Down Super Pac in March, said he will not give DeSantis’ campaign more money, unless the Florida governor works to attract new donors, as well as adopt a more moderate approach.
“He does need to shift to get to moderates. He’ll lose if he doesn’t... extremism isn’t going to get you elected,” Bigelow told the news outlet. Bigelow then referred to DeSantis’ decision to sign a bill in his state that bans abortions after six weeks, which he did following Bigelow’s donation in March.
Until DeSantis can prove that he can raise funds “on his own”, the entrepreneur will cease his cash flow to the Florida governor’s campaign. Bigelow added that he had communicated these issues to DeSantis’ campaign.
“Not until I see that he’s able to generate more on his own. I’m already too big a percentage,” Bigelow added. “A lot of his donors are still on the fence.”
This is not the beginning of DeSantis’ campaign headache, either. In his first six weeks as a presidential candidate, the Florida governor managed to burn through $7.9 million. And in mid-July, DeSantis’ presidential campaign fired about a third of their staff.
At the end of June, however, the pro-DeSantis Super Pac was reported to have a combined $109 million, twice as much as former President Donald Trump’s Maga Inc. Super Pac which boasts $53 million.
DeSantis, who is trailing Trump by 24 points according to a new poll, seems to be doing very little to stand out from his extremist rival.
Republican strategists have advised the governor to play to moderates in his campaign, instead of appealing to those on the right, because while Trump battles a stack of legal fights, the Florida governor is alienating voters with his extremist positions on slavery, education, abortion and immigration.