Wall Street financiers are looking to Nikki Haley as the candidate to pull the 2024 Republican nomination away from former President Donald Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Haley is currently placing third in national polling at 9.5% behind Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida at 14.3% and Trump at 59.7%, according to Real Clear Politics. Despite this, Wall Street is considering Haley as a viable alternative to Trump in the 2024 primaries, with some saying that they are “desperate” to keep the former president from becoming the nominee, according to the WSJ.
“There’s a desperate, desperate hunt for anybody but Trump,” one senior executive said.
“If she passes DeSantis, she’s the backup,” another financier told the WSJ in a statement. “It’s not completely crazy that she could ultimately win.”
Haley is set to meet with other Wall Street executives on Dec. 3 in New York and then attend another meeting with UBS banker Mike Santini, litigator Eric Levine as well as several others who are linked to Elliott Management, a $60 billion hedge fund founded by Republican mega donor and CEO Paul Singer on Dec. 4, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Steven Cheung, spokesperson for the Trump campaign, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the news “sucks for Ron DeSantis” in a statement.
Haley met with Wall Street executives Tuesday at several events with guests including Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock and Gary Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs. Stanley Druckenmiller, a billionaire and hedge fund manager, endorsed Haley Monday, while Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, said he was “actively contemplating” supporting the former United Nations ambassador.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, had a private conversation with Haley this past week, with Dimon noting that the the 2024 candidate appears to have a solid understanding of the economy and the relationship between business and government, according to Axios.
Haley’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Kate Anderson on November 18, 2023
