(FreedomBeacon.com)- Republican donors, skittish that the January 6 select committee hearings have irreparably damaged Donald Trump are desperate to find some other prominent Republican to lead the charge in 2024. So some of them are speaking to various news outlets to talk up Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Politico recently spoke with several Republican donors and activists who believe that while Trump remains popular among some members of the base, most Republican operatives have become fatigued by the constant drama.
Republican donor Dan Eberhart told Politico that the partisan slant of the January 6 committee means the former president is being hit with a barrage of negative testimony without any pushback. But Eberhart believes the damage to Trump is a benefit to Ron DeSantis.
Though he has no inside information, Eberhart told Politico that he believes DeSantis is “lying in wait sharpening his knives.”
Politico also spoke with an unnamed “advisor” of Governor DeSantis who suggested the January 6 committee’s findings aren’t seen as a “nail in the coffin” for Trump’s election chances in 2024. Instead, the committee is a useful distraction that will reduce the appeal of a potential Trump candidacy among Republican donors and operatives.
Other unnamed DeSantis “advisors” told Politico that the Florida governor remains focused on winning his reelection in 2022.
Dan Eberhart also gossiped to Reuters last week, again claiming that the January 6 hearings have damaged Trump to the point where Republican operatives and donors are turning their attention to Ron DeSantis.
Eberhart told Reuters that of the 150 GOP donors with whom he interacts, just six months ago, three-quarters of them wanted Trump to run in 2024. Now, six months later, about two-thirds of them want Ron DeSantis in 2024.
According to Eberhart, the “donor class” wants someone new, and Ron DeSantis is “more fresh and more calibrated.” Plus, DeSantis would be easier to defend and less likely to embarrass the “donor class,” Eberhart explained.
In short, none of these people pontificating about what Ron DeSantis plans to do in 2024 have any idea what Ron DeSantis plans to do in 2024.
