GOP Megadonor Pinpoints Exact Moment DeSantis’ Campaign Became Doomed

A donor who backed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida’s presidential campaign said Monday the indictment of former President Donald Trump by a Manhattan grand jury altered the Republican primary.

DeSantis dropped out of the Republican primary race Sunday in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, less than a week after Trump won the Iowa caucuses. Hal Lambert, the CEO of Point Bridge Capital, said the charges in the March 2023 indictment secured by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg altered the campaign.

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“If you look at the polling, back in March, they were really close, actually,” Lambert told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “And as soon as that Alvin Bragg, indictment came out, the polling started to spread out and you had more pile- ons of other indictments and it just never reversed. Donald Trump, people rallied around him at that point, and it became very difficult.”

The charges against Trump stemmed from a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s successful 2016 run for the White House.

Lambert also noted that Trump benefited from his past tenure in the White House. “He had the incumbency, like you said,” he told Cavuto. “Look, you know, Ford beat Reagan back in the ’70s, you know, and Ford had the incumbency and Reagan was a great candidate, but Ford beat him out. So, you know, most people running, the first time they run, most don’t win the first time. It’s usually the second time around that people get the nomination.”

Trump will face former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.