Conservatives on Wall Street and in the broader finance community apparently no longer consider President Donald Trump a worthy investment.
People in the securities and investment industry pumped $20 million into his 2016 run for president, with most going toward super PACs backing his candidacy, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That total doesn’t also include the millions of Wall Street contributions that went toward the president’s inauguration after he defeated Hillary Clinton.
This time, though, donors in the same industry have given just over $13 million to back Trump. It doesn’t look like he’ll make up the difference in the campaign’s final stretch, either, according to GOP strategists. Meanwhile, many of the people who donated to his inaugural committee have disappeared from the fundraising scene.
Wall Street support for Trump backed off mainly due to his response to the coronavirus outbreak, despite the tax and regulation cuts during the president’s tenure, according to Republican strategists who work with financial leaders. These strategists spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely.
“Wall Street craves policy, predictability and strong government institutions. Trump has delivered the opposite. The Covid crisis gave Wall Streeters the excuse they needed to move,” said a GOP advisor who works for a former Trump donor in the finance world.
Another Republican strategist who actively works with people in finance said that the few donors who donated to back Trump early in the campaign don’t plan to give again with just under two weeks left in the campaign. The strategist said his clients weren’t happy with how the campaign spent its previously massive war chest. Former Trump campaign chief Brad Parscale once boasted that the organization was a financial “Death Star.” Entering October, it had just over $60 million in cash on hand, compared with Biden’s nearly $180 million.