"Wall Street Big Players Gather Around Haley, the 'Trump Alternative'"

Former President Donald Trump is dominating the Republican presidential primary in the United States, but former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is rapidly rising. As Wall Street heavyweights, known as the GOP’s “money pipeline,” have consecutively declared their public support, the fundraising amount?a key indicator of election momentum?has surpassed an all-time high.

According to US financial media CNBC on the 5th (local time), Haley raised $500,000 (approximately 660 million KRW) at a fundraising event attended by Wall Street moguls in New York. This is the largest amount raised since Haley officially announced her presidential bid in February.

CNBC commented, "The success in raising such a large sum shows how strong her presidential campaign is," adding, "Starting with the Iowa Caucus (the party member meeting), known as the barometer of next year’s election, followed by the New Hampshire Primary and South Carolina Primary, she is expected to gain a favorable position to compete with Trump."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The list of 125 attendees at the event included major figures from Wall Street and large corporations such as Cliff Asness, co-founder of hedge fund AQR Capital; Christine Lemkau, CEO of asset management at JPMorgan Chase; and Robert Rosenkrantz, CEO of Delphi Capital. US political media outlet Politico reported, "One of the co-hosts of the fundraising event was Annie Dickerson, who is close to Paul Singer, a major Republican donor and hedge fund billionaire."

The success of this fundraising event came amid a series of public endorsements for Haley from Wall Street heavyweights. On the 29th of last month, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, publicly supported Haley, saying she "could be a better alternative than Trump" as a Republican presidential candidate. Following billionaire businessman Charles Koch, a major GOP donor, hedge fund legend Stanley Druckenmiller, Citadel founder Ken Griffin, and real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht also expressed their support for Haley.

Haley’s spotlight among Wall Street elites is largely attributed to her pro-Zionist stance. Unlike Trump, who has repeatedly made anti-Semitic remarks, Haley has won Wall Street’s favor by expressing full support for Israel, which is at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

At a Republican presidential candidate debate held in Miami on the 8th of last month, which Trump did not attend, she stated, "Our only mission is to support Israel and eliminate Hamas." The Washington Post (WP) evaluated, "The competitive framing between Haley and Trump is working, and Haley is experiencing the steepest rise among all past presidential primary candidates."

Haley is also the most progressive among Republican candidates on one of the biggest issues of this election, abortion. WP assessed, "Her reasonable stance on politically polarized issues such as abortion rights is winning over moderate voters and overturning the Republican Party’s defeat."

Meanwhile, according to a survey conducted by US news website The Messenger and polling agency Harris Poll from the 27th of last month to the 1st of this month targeting 2,018 registered voters, if President Biden runs as the Democratic candidate and former UN Ambassador Haley runs as the Republican candidate, 41% said they would vote for Haley, 4 percentage points higher than those who said they would vote for Biden. In a Biden-Trump head-to-head matchup, 47% said they would vote for Trump, while 40% said they would vote for Biden.