MEET THE MEGADONORS
With 49 days left until the start of the opening round of next year’s presidential primaries, the 2024 election is well on track to be the most expensive in history.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have raised $56.7 million and $44.7 million, respectively. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, raised $15.1 million.
Who are the people contributing the most to each of these candidates and how much are they giving?
Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg speaks to the media at the Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 7, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Hollywood film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn Katzenberg, lead the pack of Biden’s megadonors. The couple contributed a total of $1,785,800 to Biden’s campaign and PAC. Jeff Ketzenberg said earlier this year that he would pledge “all the resources” to help reelect Biden.
Casey Wasserman, the CEO of the eponymous sports marketing and talent management firm, contributed $936,200 to Biden’s campaign and PAC.
Wasserman is the chair of the organizing committee for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In his role, Wasserman has urged International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to reform Rule 50 which bans political protests on the medal stand.
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple’s visionary founder, Steve Jobs, donated $932,300 to Biden’s campaign and PAC.
Laurene Powell Jobs accepted the medal of freedom from Biden on behalf of her husband in July last year. She is a trustee of the Ford Foundation and the founder and president of Emerson Collective, which is the majority owner of the leftwing Atlantic Magazine.
The biggest single donor for President Trump is Phil Ruffin, an 88-year-old hotel and casino mogul. Ruffin contributed $2,014,900 to Trump’s PACs and campaign.
Ruffin and Trump hold stakes in the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. Ruffin hasn’t always donated to Republicans. He previously supported the presidential campaigns for John Kerry and President Barack Obama.
Charles Kushner, the real estate magnate and father of Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, gave $1 million to Trump’s PAC in June.
Trump issued a pardon to Charles Kushner in 2020. Kushner pleaded guilty in 2005 to making illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion.
Robert “Woody” Johnson, the co-owner of the New York Jets, donated $1,113,000 to Trump’s PAC this election cycle. Johnson had previously given $1 million to a Trump-linked PAC for the 2020 election.
Johnson, the grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, who founded Johnson & Johnson in 1886, served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021.
The biggest donor of RFK Jr., who has switched from a longshot bid to challenge Biden in the Democratic primary to a longshot independent run for the White House, is Timothy Mellon, a member of one of America’s wealthiest family dynasties.
Mellon gave $5 million to an RFK-aligned PAC and $3,300 to Kennedy’s campaign.
If $5 million sounds like a lot, look at how much Robert Bigelow, a real estate and aerospace mogul, has given to the PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Bigelow’s $20 million contribution to Never Back Down, makes him the single biggest donor of the election so far.
But Bigelow’s initial enthusiasm for the Florida governor has soured. In August, amid struggles to attract donors and tepid polling, Bigelow said he would stop donating to DeSantis.
—Patricia Tolson and Ivan Pentchoukov
BIDEN’S FALLING POLL NUMBERS
Over the last two years, President Joe Biden made great efforts to unite fractured Democrats behind his “Build Back Better” plan in an effort to reverse a decline in his approval ratings.
But despite the passage of multi-trillion-dollar spending packages such as the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s approval ratings have not seen the expected recovery and, instead, has been on a downward trajectory in recent months.
One of the significant factors contributing to Biden’s declining approval ratings has been his handling of foreign policy, particularly his response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
According to the latest NBC News poll, his job approval rating has hit an all-time low, with only 40 percent of registered voters approving of his performance. The decline in approval is most notable among voters aged 18 to 34, with 70 percent expressing disapproval.
Among voters under 35, the poll also showed a surprising result: Trump leading by 46 percent to 42 percent.
The decline in Biden’s approval is not limited to foreign policy. Americans are also concerned about his age and disapprove of his economic policies.
Even small business owners across the country appear skeptical of his economic message. A recent CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey indicated that Biden’s approval rating among small business owners has plummeted to a record low of 30 percent, down from 43 percent in early 2021.
In addition to his approval ratings, Biden faces the challenge of a growing number of Americans losing faith in the American dream. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NORC survey, only 36 percent of respondents still believe in the American dream, compared to 53 percent in 2012 and 48 percent in 2016.
Meanwhile, Trump’s popularity has been on the rise.
His current vote share in national polls is higher than it has been in the past year. Over the last year, RealClearPolitics‘ average showed Trump’s support fluctuating between 42 percent and 46 percent in a direct matchup against Biden.
In November, however, the former president surpassed the 46 percent mark for the first time, and recently, he even reached slightly above 47 percent.
—Emel Akan
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- First Lady Jill Biden unveils the holiday theme for the White House, holds a roundtable discussion with the families and children of National Guard service members, and delivers her holiday message for the season.
- Congress is back in session on Tuesday following an 11-day Thanksgiving break.
- On Tuesday, the president and the first lady will attend the tribute service for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
Crime in San Francisco is so bad there are now pirates in the bay. That’s the headline of a special report by Allan Stein on pirate-style crime in the Bay Area.
“For a couple of months, it was serious. We got calls every day about people having their boats stolen. They'd go into the marinas at night, take the small inflatables and stuff, and take them over to their homeless encampment,” Outboard Motor Shop owner Craig Jacobsen, who had two of his boats robbed by the pirates, told Allan.
Our colleague Hans Mahncke studied John F. Kennedy’s assassination for 35 years. He thought the assassination was a conspiracy until a fateful visit to the site of the murder. With the recent passing of the anniversary of the assassination, Hans’s account of the decades-long and ongoing journey in search of truth is a worthy read for JFK nerds and lay people alike.
The United Nations has unveiled a plan to regulate online speech and crack down on what it calls “false information” and “conspiracy theories.” Epoch Times contributor Alex Newman explores the globalist group’s 59-page report and the backlash from U.S. lawmakers and the free speech crowd.
