'He can be stopped': GOP donor says Trump’s 'aura of invincibility' has 'peeled away'
Even though former President Donald Trump is currently leading his 2024 Republican primary opponents by a large margin in both early state polls and national polls, a major GOP donor says his fellow Republicans don't need to cling to Trump to win next November.
Eric Levine — a prominent bankruptcy attorney who is hosting a December fundraiser for former UN ambassador Nikki Haley — told the New York Times that he believes Haley's recent surge in polls shows that the 45th president of the United States is beatable in a primary.
"There were people that don’t like Trump at all but were very skeptical that he could be stopped," Levine said. "They now believe he can be stopped. His aura of invincibility is just peeled away completely."
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Levine's assertion that Trump can be defeated in the Republican primary seems like a pipe dream given current polls. According to data compiled by RealClearPolitics, Trump's share of the Republican primary vote has only increased despite his looming criminal indictments and ongoing legal proceedings.
When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg became the first of three prosecutors to indict Trump on criminal charges, Trump's polling numbers saw a sharp jump from 44.3% in late March to over 52% after being indicted on more than 30 felony counts in New York. And as the indictments accumulated, Trump's share of the vote continued to climb. Despite now facing 91 felony charges in three jurisdictions, Trump now has almost 60% support among likely GOP primary voters.
Still, Haley appears to be on track to dispatch her other Republican primary opponents, with her support steadily climbing as support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who has been Trump's closest rival since declaring his campaign — continues to plummet. On June 1, RealClearPolitics showed DeSantis with 22.4% support to Haley's 4.4% support. But as of November 22, DeSantis has dropped to just 13.5% support while Haley now boasts 10.5% support.
In early states, Haley is the clear #2 contender. The latest polls out of Iowa show Haley within striking distance of DeSantis, whose support has remained roughly flat since September. However, Haley has more than double her polling position in that same time frame. New Hampshire polls show the former South Carolina governor at 18.7% support with DeSantis dropping to fourth place at 8.5% support.
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Still, Haley's steady climb in the polls still suggests she has an almost insurmountable mountain to climb in order to clinch the Republican nomination by summer of 2024. Even if all other candidates were to drop out and endorse Haley, and even under the generous assumption that none of of those candidates' supporters would defect to Trump's side, Haley would still only have roughly 39% support.
The presidential primary schedule will begin with the Iowa Caucuses on January 15, and the most delegates will be at stake on Super Tuesday, which will fall on March 5 — the day after Trump's election interference trial begins in Washington, DC. According to Ballotpedia, a candidate needs 1,235 delegates in order to become the GOP presidential nominee.