Nikki Haley grapples dozens of fundraisers ahead of New Carolina Primary despite the poor result in New Hampshire

Indian-American presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is facing a tough road ahead after back-to-back dismal showings in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary. The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador is lagging behind Donald Trump by 30 points in her home state, where the primary is just weeks away.

But that hasn’t stopped her from lining up a series of high-profile fundraisers across the country, hosted by some of the richest and most influential people in America ahead of South Carolina Primary.

How many of them will actually go through?

On The Money has obtained invitations to several of these events, which feature a who’s who of billionaires, moguls, and power brokers. Among them are:

• A Jan. 30 event in New York City, co-hosted by Leonard Stern, Cliff Asness, Stanley Druckenmiller, Ken Langone and Henry Kravis.
• A Feb. 6 event in Atherton, Calif., hosted by Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley legend and venture capitalist.
• A Feb. 15 event in Dallas, hosted by Harlan Crow, a real estate magnate and art collector.
• Other events in Greenville, SC, Houston, and San Antonio, with hosts such as Ross Perot Jr., Cécilia Attias (the former wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy), Susan Rockefeller, Karen Rove (the wife of GOP strategist Karl Rove), and Pat Toomey (a former US senator from Pennsylvania).

These events are expected to rake in millions of dollars for Haley, who raised $24 million in the last quarter of 2023. But some insiders say that the money is not a sign of confidence in her candidacy, but rather a gesture of courtesy or vanity.

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Some hopeful, some sceptical

Some donors, especially those in the hedge fund and tech sectors, are more interested in showing their friends that they oppose Trump than in backing a winner, sources say. They see Haley as a moderate alternative to the former president, whom they despise.

Others, however, are having second thoughts about throwing money down a rathole, as Ken Langone put it last week. The billionaire businessman and co-founder of Home Depot said he would support Haley only if she gained traction in New Hampshire, which she failed to do. He did not say if he would pull out of the New York fundraiser, which was still on as of Wednesday.

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On The Money reported earlier that Haley also received some covert support from wealthy Democratic donors, who saw her as a way to prevent another Trump presidency. They viewed their donations as an “opposition effort”, according to insiders.