The violence at the Capitol, the continued commitment of Mr. Trump to a false truth, and the flood of anti-suffrage legislation led by Republican governments in response to his failed campaign in 2020, all fueled outrage among many high-dollar donors. corporations with a long history of supporting Republicans.
Robert Cahaly, a Republican opinion pollster and strategist, said this trend was only the latest example of how Mr. Trump has shifted power in Republican politics away from big corporations and establishment figures, and to the roots – a demographic he thoroughly controls.
“In a world where traditional Republican corporate donors are drying up, there are millions of people who will donate $ 5, $ 10, $ 20 and can easily make a difference,” he said. Cahaly said. “If you want to go to a party that’s funded, you can not alienate the people that make up the crowd.”
As his speech made clear on Saturday, Mr. Trump dedicated himself to one cause above all else: himself. And for now, so do Republican voters.
Even while two-thirds of Americans said in a CNN poll last month that they did not approve of Trump’s response to the Jan. 6 attack, 63 percent of Republicans said he responded well to it. And 71 percent of Republicans said Mr. Trump had a positive effect on the IDP, not a negative effect.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump did not deliver his speech at the Palm Beach Four Seasons, where the official gathering of donors from the Republican National Committee took place over the weekend. In a distinctive symbol of big foot, he delivered his speech at the nearby Mar-a-Lago, his private club, and forced donors to go to the caravan to hear him.
Mr. Trump went completely off the script, but he was completely trademark. He lied about the November election and some Republicans denounced the January 6 riot – including Mr. McConnell and former Vice President Mike Pence – condemned while praising his closest allies.