Robert Bigelow is a billionaire space industrialist and hotel conglomerate owner. In addition to his vast wealth, Bigelow believes space aliens are already on earth and we just have not discovered them yet. Bigelow gives a lot of money to republicans.
Last week the New York Times reported the DeSantis team had raised $30 million in the last month. Time Magazine is now reporting that $20 million of that financing came from one donor, billionaire Robert Bigelow.
(Via Time) – t’s been a rough two weeks for Ron DeSantis. Members of Congress from his own state have been endorsing Donald Trump in droves. A crippling gas shortage in South Florida coincided with the governor’s travel from South Carolina to South Korea, fueling a spate of negative headlines and “Where’s Ron?” memes. He’s been dropping in the polls. And perhaps most threatening to his presidential ambitions—some of his donors are pulling out.
But none of that is shaking the confidence of Robert Bigelow, the hotel tycoon and aeronautics executive who reveals to TIME that he is the largest donor by far to Never Back Down Inc., a super PAC backing DeSantis’s unofficial campaign for President. Bigelow, who was also the single-largest donor to DeSantis’s 2022 reelection bid, confirms that he has already donated a little more than $20 million to Never Back Down. He says that’s just a start. The super-rich businessman plans to continue putting his wealth behind sending the Florida governor to the Oval Office. “I will give him more money and go without food,” Bigelow says.
His initial donation is a substantial increase from the $10 million contribution he made to DeSantis in the midterms last July. Bigelow, who is based in Las Vegas, says he made the $20 million donation on March 27. A senior Never Back Down official recently told The New York Times that the PAC raised $30 million from March 9 to April 3, meaning two-thirds of those dollars came from Bigelow. (read more)
DeSantis might be filling up the bank accounts, but winning hearts and minds…. not so much.
Former Congressman David Trott (R-MI) – […] “I sat right next to DeSantis for two years on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and he never said a single word to me,” Trott said. “I was new to Congress, and he didn’t introduce himself or even say hello.”
“I go to my first hearing early, and DeSantis showed up right at the gavel time and didn’t say hello or introduce himself,” Trott told Politico. “And then the next hearing, the same thing happened. I think the third time it happened, I thought, ‘Oh, this guy’s not ever going to say hello to me.’” He said he eventually introduced himself to DeSantis.
Trott acknowledged that while DeSantis was talented at pressing his political ambitions, he was not likable.
“He never developed any relationships with other members that I know of. You’d never see him talking on the floor with other people or palling around. He’s just a very arrogant guy, very focused on Ron DeSantis,” Trott said.
He added:
He wasn’t really liked when he was in Congress. And now it’s coming home to, you know, prove out as some of the Florida delegation endorsed Trump and and some of the donors, you know, think he’s kind of awkward in terms of how he interacts with them. … If his pre-presidential campaign was playing out differently, then I’d say, ‘Well, maybe he just didn’t like me.’ But I think there’s something more at work here.”
Trott concluded, “I think he’s an asshole. I don’t think he cares about people.” (More)
Perhaps this explains why the DeSantis team needs to photoshop handshakes.
