Donald Trump’s Billionaire Megadonor Has Reportedly Stopped Fundraising For The President In 2020

As Donald Trump lags behind Joe Biden in the polls, billionaire Ronald Lauder, who has been close to the president for 50 years, has yet to step in and help the campaign in 2020, CNBC reported. Per Federal Election Commission filings, the heir of the Estee Lauder Companies last donated to Trump’s re-election campaign in the summer of 2019 when he funneled $200,000 into the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee.

Before 2020, Lauder spent significantly more money donating to Republican groups. For example, CNBC noted that he donated at least $1.6 million to the National Horizons super PAC in 2018.

Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Lauder, suggested the reason for the billionaire’s 2020 absence is due to his efforts in helping European schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, Mr. Lauder has been focused on rescuing the 35 schools he founded in Eastern Europe, among others, and covering the full tuition for families that have been devastated by the current economic and public health crisis.”

According to CNBC, Lauder’s Trump connections have received scrutiny from his Estee Lauder employees, some of whom recently pushed from his removal from the company’s board amid the George Floyd protests. In response to such criticism, Lauder pointed to his history of standing up against racism and anti-semitism.

Nevertheless, the report does not specify evidence that Lauder’s silence in 2020 is in any way related to Trump.

“Fundraisers and friends of the president’s have yet to hear from Lauder on whether he plans to give larger contributions to Trump’s reelection, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be named as these conversations were deemed private,” the piece read.

Although Biden outraised Trump in recent months, the president turned the tide in July. As reported by The Washington Post, Trump’s campaign in July, in conjunction with the Republican National Committee and affiliated committees, raised a total of $165 million.

Conversely, the former vice president, the Democratic National Committee, and associated committees raised $140 million in the same month. When comparing July’s totals to previous months, Trump’s was a bump while Biden’s remained relatively the same.

Earlier in the year, CNN political analyst Molly Ball warned that Trump’s impressive fundraising doesn’t bode well for the Democratic Party. As The Inquisitr reported, Ball noted that massive fundraising infrastructure he has at his disposal compared to 2016 and suggested that the president essentially has unlimited resources to pour into his re-election campaign.

“It’s going to be very difficult for Democrats to match,” she said of the president’s fundraising head start, per Breitbart.