Billionaire Ken Griffin, the founder of the global investment firm Citadel, said former President Trump is a “three-time loser” who should step aside in the 2024 presidential election.
Griffin said on Tuesday at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Singapore that Trump should stay out of the Republican primary for president and make way for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whom Griffin has backed financially.
“I’d like to think that the Republican Party is ready to move on from somebody who has been for this party a three-time loser,” he said.
Griffin’s comments come as Trump appears likely to announce his third run for the presidency on Tuesday night at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
The former president has received some blame in the past week for Republicans’ performance in the midterm elections, in which the GOP failed to win control of the Senate and will probably gain a just narrow majority in the House.
In high-profile races, many Trump-backed candidates have lost to their Democratic opponents. Most recently, Republican Kari Lake was projected to lose against Democrat Katie Hobbs in the race for Arizona governor.
Last week, Blake Masters lost to incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The three losses Griffin referenced are Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat, the party’s loss of two Georgia Senate seats in January 2021 runoffs and this year’s midterms.
Griffin said he was pleased with the results of the elections, pointing to many voters’ choice to split their ballot between Democrats and Republicans and many of the more extreme candidates losing.
“This was a triumph of democracy,” he said.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in comments on Thursday that the midterms were a victory for “team normal.”
DeSantis has emerged as the top alternative to Trump, and polls have shown him consistently placing second to the former president in a hypothetical primary until recently.
Bloomberg reported that Griffin gave DeSantis $5 million for his reelection, which DeSantis won handily on Tuesday.