Investor Draper Says He Will ‘Absolutely’ Keep Funding Haley
(Bloomberg) -- Investor and Nikki Haley donor Tim Draper said he will “absolutely” continue to fund her longshot presidential bid as the former UN ambassador challenges Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
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“She’s gone from 2% of the vote to now 43% of the vote, and it’s all up from here,” Draper said in an interview with Bloomberg Television Tuesday. “I think it’s the guys who are supporting Trump who should start questioning themselves.”
Draper’s optimism comes as Haley is aggressively fundraising nationwide despite her recent losses in New Hampshire and Iowa to the former president. The next major contest is Feb. 24 in South Carolina, Haley’s home state, where Trump is leading her by about 30 percentage points.
Trump last week threatened her donors on social media, saying anybody contributing to Haley would be “permanently barred” from his political circle. He has expressed anger that Haley hasn’t dropped out despite two consecutive losses and a narrow path to winning the Republican nomination.
An heir of a Silicon Valley investing family, Draper made early investments in companies including Tesla Inc., Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as well as Hotmail and Skype. He has given more than $1.25 million to the super political action committee supporting Haley’s presidential run, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings.
Draper is among the co-hosts for Haley fundraisers in the San Francisco-area on Feb. 6. Other hosts include Vector Capital’s Alex Slusky and March Capital’s Jamie Montgomery and Felicis Ventures’ Aydin Senkut, according to invitations obtained by Bloomberg News.
Haley, who has a large base of donor support, including the Koch-backed Americans For Prosperity network, has the money to keep running. According to her campaign, she has raised $5.5 million since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he was dropping out of the race just over a week ago.
--With assistance from Karen Breslau and Hannah Miller.
(Updates with Feb. 6 fundraiser hosts in the penultimate paragraph)
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