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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign got a major shot in the arm last week as he and the Republican Party scramble to match Democratic funding levels.
GOP megadonor Warren Stephens, who was backing the now-defunct campaign of Trump’s UN ambassador, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, has now decided to pour money into the 45th president’s campaign as a co-chair of the Trump 47 Committee’s Inaugural Leadership Dinner held in West Palm Beach, The Epoch Times reported.
In addition to Trump attending the event, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, all of whom were running for the GOP nomination, attended as well.
The former president’s campaign announced that it raised a staggering $50.5 million, CNN reported. The total close to doubles the record set by President Joe Biden’s campaign last week in New York when it raised $26 million at an event that featured former Presidents Bill Clinton and Obama.
The event was held at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor John Paulson.
“Tonight will be an incredible night for President Trump and the Republican Party, raising an astounding $50.5 million,” Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, Trump campaign senior advisors. “Meanwhile, after locking up the nomination in one of the fastest primaries in modern political history, Donald J. Trump is winning poll after poll and proving that the enthusiasm is on his side. It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5.”
“The success of tonight’s event is proving what we already know: Americans are fed up with Biden’s record of failure, from the open southern border and sky-high inflation to the migrant crime crisis that has made everyone less safe,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chairman Lara Trump said. “The Republican Party is united behind the effort to elect President Donald J. Trump, and Americans are lining up to join our movement and retire Crooked Joe Biden once and for all.”
Former first lady Melania Trump was thrilled with the event and, on her way into the fundraiser, said, “This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people want to contribute to a cause of making America great again.”
Other GOP donors who supported other candidates, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, also joined with Stephens to circle their wagons around Trump, The Epoch Times noted.
“According to Federal Election Commission records, Warren Stephens and his wife, Harriet Stephens, gave $2 million to a hybrid political action committee—SFA Fund Inc.—to support Ms. Haley’s candidacy in 2023,” the report said.
“In January 2024, Warren Stephens, Harriett Stephens, and Laura Stephens, a senior marketing communication manager at Stephens Inc., sent a collective $1 million to SFA Fund,” it said.
The top donation at the event was “Chairman Level,” which was priced at $824,600 and allowed the donor to be seated at the same table as the former president.
“Now that President Trump won the primaries, defeating all 10 contenders by a landslide, I think it’s time for Republicans to unite behind him,” Paulsen said to Bloomberg. “For that reason, I’m hosting this inaugural event to galvanize the broad support there is for the president.”
The event comes after Biden raised around $26 million in a star-studded New York fundraiser, which he skipped the funeral of a fallen police officer to attend.
Thousands of New York City police officers lined streets near the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church to say farewell to slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, 31, in an overwhelming display of unity on Saturday, just days after President Joe Biden was ripped for attending a swanky fundraiser following the officer’s murder.
