Haley’s Wall Street donor surge draws fire at GOP debate

Florida
Gov.
Ron
DeSantis
and
Vivek
Ramaswamy
both
attacked
Nikki
Haley’s
economic
views
and

financial
ties
in
the
fourth
Republican
primary
debate
in
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama.

Haley’s
surge
in
polls
has
sparked
a
recent
wave
of
donations
from
Wall
Street
veterans
and
other
high-profile
donors.
Haley
raised
over

$500,000
on
Monday
at
a
glitzy
New
York
City
penthouse
event
packed
with
financial
heavies,
CNBC
reported.

“Nikki
will
cave
to
those
big
donors
when
it
counts,”
DeSantis
said
early
in
the
debate.

Billionaire
and
LinkedIn
co-founder
Reid
Hoffman
also

reportedly
gave
$250,000
to
a
super
PAC
backing
Haley
this
week.

“Reid
Hoffman,
the
person
who’s
effectively
George
Soros,
Jr.,
funding
lawsuits
across
this
country
against
Donald
Trump
to
keep
him
off
the
ballot,
funding
left
wing
causes,
we
discovered
this
week
that
he
is
one
of
Nikki
Haley’s
largest
supporters,”
said
Ramaswamy.

A
Democrat
who
supports

Biden,
Hoffman
said
in
a

LinkedIn
post
that
he
donated
to
Haley
because
“my
first
priority
is
to
defeat
Trump,
and
the
primary
is
the
first
of
two
chances
to
do
so.”

DeSantis
and
Ramaswamy
also
resurfaced
Haley’s
reported
meeting
last
month
with
Blackrock
CEO
Larry
Fink,
an
attack
focused
on
Haley’s
stance
on
ESG.

“Larry
Fink,
the
king
of
the
woke
industrial
complex,
the
ESG
movement,
the
CEO
of
BlackRock,
the
most
powerful
company
in
the
world,
now
supporting
Nikki
Haley,”
said
Ramaswamy.

Ed
Sweeney,
a
spokesman
for
BlackRock,
told
CNBC
that
Fink
“hasn’t
made
an
endorsement”
and
declined
to
comment
further.

Fink
has
championed
the
investing
strategy
that
considers
environmental,
social
and
governance
factors.
But
conservatives
have
decried
it,
and
DeSantis
has
barred
Florida
state
officials
from
using
public
funds
to
promote
ESG
goals.

“In
terms
of
these
donors
that
are
supporting
me,
they’re
just
jealous,”
said
Haley.
“They
wish
that
they
were
supporting
them.”

As
President

Joe
Biden
continues
to
poll

poorly
on
the
economy
despite
falling

gas
prices
and
inflation
rates,
Republicans
see
a
golden
opportunity.

The
debate
could
be
one
of
the
last
chances
for
DeSantis
to
cut
into
Haley’s
momentum
before
the
first-in-the-nation
Iowa
caucuses
next
month.

Once
the
top
Republicans
alternative
to
former
President

Donald
Trump,
DeSantis
has
seen
his
poll
numbers
slide
in
recent
months,
while
Haley’s
have
steadily
ticked
up.

Some
polls
now
show
Haley
in
second
place
in
the
key
primary
states
of
New
Hampshire
and
South
Carolina
—
while
edging
up
on
DeSantis
in
Iowa,
where
he
has
focused
his
campaign.

This
is
a
developing
story.
Please
check
back
for
updates.