Former President Donald Trump claimed Democrats were funding fellow Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis in an effort to keep the former president out of the 2024 race.
Trump made his remarks during a Tuesday town hall in Davenport, Iowa. Fox News' Sean Hannity, who hosted the event, asked the former president about President Joe Biden's Tuesday remarks indicating he would not seek a second term in office had Trump not launched a re-election campaign late last year.
“Well, I think somebody gave him a talking point they thought that would sound good,” Trump said of Biden's remarks.
The former president went on to suggest his leading opponents in the Republican primary, former South Carolina Governor Haley and Florida Governor DeSantis, were accepting donations from Democrats.
“You know, I just found out that Democrats are funding Nikki Haley’s campaign,” Trump said. “I hear that Democrats are contributing to Ron DeSanctus’ — or Ron DeSanctimonious — to Ron DeSanctus’ campaign."
“That’s the only thing they’re good at — cheating on elections and great talking points,” Trump said of his political opponents. “They say, ‘We want to run against Trump.’ They want to run? Well, we did really well in 2016. And we did so much better in 2020. The person they don’t want to run against is us."
Trump's claim appeared to reference a Tuesday report from the New York Times which revealed LinkedIn co-founder and Democrat donor Reid Hoffman contributed $250,000 to pro-Haley PAC, SFA Fund. The PAC has reportedly spent over $33 million in support of the former South Carolina governor.
According to federal election records, Hoffman donated nearly $700,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by President Biden's re-election campaign.
Trump told Hannity he feels "great" about his standing in the upcoming election.
During the event, Hannity asked Trump to reassure voters he would "never abuse power as retribution against anybody."
"Except for Day One," Trump responded. “Other than Day One. We’re closing the border. And we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that I’m not a dictator."
While speaking at a fundraiser on Tuesday, President Biden said "If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running."
"We cannot let him win for the sake of the country," Biden added.
One reporter asked Biden to clarify if he would be seeking re-election if Trump was not running, to which Biden said "he is running and I have to run."
RealClearPolitics currently shows the former President with a 47.5-point lead over runner up DeSantis. The Florida Governor leads Haley by 3.2 points and is followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
