Major GOP donor Ken Griffin ‘still on the sidelines’ in 2024 race

Billionaire Ken Griffin, a major contributor to Republican campaigns, isn’t ready to pick his candidate in the crowded field seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

In an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen that is set to air at 8 p.m. Monday, the Citadel CEO explained that he just isn’t impressed with any of the candidates at this point, with a little more than 13 months until the general election.

“I’m still on the sidelines as to who to support in this election cycle,” Griffin said. “Look, if I had my dream, we’d have a great Republican candidate in the primary who was younger, of a different generation, with a different tone for America. And we’d have a younger person on the Democratic side in the primary, who would have his message for our country.”

President Biden, 80, is running for reelection on the Democratic side.

On the Republican side, former President Trump, 77, is the front-runner.

Griffin, whose estimated net worth is about $35 billion, gave more than $100 million during the 2022 midterm cycle to various candidates, nearly all Republicans.

He backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s successful reelection campaign in 2022. DeSantis, 45, is now seeking the GOP presidential nomination, but Griffin had a harsh assessment of his 2024 campaign.

“I don’t know his strategy,” Griffin said. “It’s not clear to me what voter base he is intending to appeal to.”

Griffin called DeSantis’s first term as governor “phenomenal” but said he hasn’t felt the same about him recently.

“The ongoing battle with Disney, I think, is pointless,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect well on the ethos of Florida.”

DeSantis has been feuding with Disney after the company denounced a DeSantis-backed state law that restricts discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.