America First Action, blessed by Trump, has been outraged and further spent by pro-Biden leader Super PAC Priorities USA, which has been running a series of scorching commercials beating Trump for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Republicans point to a number of reasons for America First’s struggles. Some of the president’s aides point out that, to their frustration, he has shown less interest in the Super PAC fundraiser than Barack Obama before his successful re-election in 2012. He has also shown a reluctance to make the kind of lighthearted deal, call cold and groom the billionaires needed to grow a well-funded super PAC.
Others say big Republican donors are withholding the checks because of the potential business consequences of being a major Trump contributor. After news broke that fitness company executive Stephen Ross was organizing a fundraiser in the Hamptons for Trump, clients of his Equinox and SoulCycle chains staged a boycott.
With Trump lagging behind, some donors are more interested in funding efforts to save the majority of the Republican Senate. Among the taxpayers who have paid checks to the super PAC for Senate Republicans, but not those for Trump, are hedge fund manager Paul Singer, investor Charles Schwab and real estate developer Mel Sembler.
Others say there is simply exhaustion with Trump and disgust at his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor who has contributed to America First Action, pointed to what he described as an “enthusiasm gap among super PAC donors.”
“They are beating us up,” he said. “The super PACs on the left are providing much more air support to Team Biden than those on the right to Team Trump, unfortunately.”
The president’s advisers blame America First for their struggles. They point to his decision to wait until spring to take on Biden and his $ 4 million investment in a television commercial that featured Vice President Mike Pence but did not mention Trump. The move angered the president’s advisers; The morning the commercial was released, a Trump adviser approached a POLITICO reporter without being asked to criticize the move.
America First Action President Brian Walsh said the nonprofit arm had chosen to feature Pence to highlight comments he had made at an event it had organized that focused on economic recovery.
“No other outside group has raised or spent more to help re-elect Donald Trump. No other outside group has supported our president since day one. Period, ”Walsh said. “We have been on the air, online and in mailboxes since April and we continue to be today.”
While America First Action has the imprimatur of the White House, current concerns about the group have sparked conversations about whether an alternative super PAC should be formed. While Adelson is unlikely to make a donation to America First Action, allies say, he is open to funding another pro-Trump group.
But some Republicans say that having multiple super PACs could cause confusion among donors about which team to support.
Christopher Ekstrom, a Dallas investor who backed Ted Cruz’s primary campaign in 2016, recalled that the Texas senator had a variety of super PACs. Some potential donors, he recalled, ended up not giving to any of them.
“The Trump team was right to centralize their super PAC after their victory and prevent their super PAC from being balkanized,” said Ekstrom, who has donated more than $ 20,000 to pro-Trump causes this election cycle.
Republicans are up against a number of liberal groups, ranging from Priorities USA to American Bridge and Future Forward, all of which have set aside millions of dollars in television spending. Even though Biden has struggled to keep up with Trump on the fundraising front, there are concerns in Republican circles that liberal organizations could harm the president.
Republican strategist Ken Spain noted that “none of the candidates will lose for lack of resources at this time,” but added: “The Democratic donor class has come together and built an apparatus rival to that of the Trump campaign and its allies.” .
With both sides full of cash, there will be no shortage of TV commercials from both sides. Alex Castellanos, a veteran Republican ad maker who helped run a pro-Trump super PAC in 2016, said voters would be more focused on the individual performances of Trump and Biden.
“The Most Powerful Media Booster in a Presidential Campaign [campaign] is the candidate. The candidate is news and drives the agenda. That is the good news for Donald Trump, “Castellanos said.” Sometimes that’s the bad news for Trump too. “
