GOP Donors Increasingly Turning to Trump
Wednesday, January 20, 2016 09:38 AM
By: Loren Gutentag
As Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to lead in the polls, some GOP donors are in complete denial about the strength of the real estate mogul's candidacy while others are quietly coming around to the idea that Trump could very well be their party's nominee for president, The Hill reports.
Trump, who does not want to owe donors money if he gets into office, has rejected financial support from wealthy donors in an attempt to gain acceptance as well as result in a multi-billion dollar general election.
And, donors who have either given the maximum $2,700 contribution to Trump's campaign or are planning on giving a significant amount more in the general election have said, according to the Hill, that they are "noticing a growing acceptance of Trump among their mainstream Republican friends and business associates."
"People were going crazy that I was having him over to my house,"said Republican donor Ernie Boch who threw a party for Trump at his 16,000 square-foot mansion over the summer.
Boch told The Hill that many of his counter parts believed he was "nuts" for supporting the reality TV star, but Boch added that "a lot of my friends were afraid to say that they were supporting him because it just wasn't politically correct."
Now, almost six months later, Boch of Massachusetts notices that his friends who he would consider "establishment" Republicans "are coming to terms with the idea that this is the guy; this is who is going to be the GOP leader."
Other Republican donors including, Bob Ellis of Phoenix, Richard Edwards of Pennsylvania, Doug Manchester of California, Shaun McCutcheon of Alabama, and Robert Bazyk of Connecticut, are all in agreement that donors are changing their tune towards Trump.
While it's true that GOP donors are increasingly turning to Trump, some like Bazyk, the CEO of a security company, believe the candidate still has "major barriers to overcome to win widespread establishment support," The Hill reports.
And although Bazyk gave the maximum amount of $2,700 to Trump's campaign, Bazyk firmly stated that he does "not agree with all Mr. Trump has said or inferred."
"I believe in welcoming refugees from all countries, races and religions who are genuinely fleeing religious and political persecution,"Bazyk said. "I also believe the insults and name-calling in politics are as counterproductive as political correctness."
Bazyk continued, "Early on, many of my friends and associates, who have supported establishment candidates in the past, spoke of Trump as 'a joke.'"
"They have recently changed their tune" and have concluded that Trump is the only GOP candidate with the "entrepreneurial spirit" to solve "America's big problems."
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/GOP-.../20/id/710133/
