Some of the biggest Republican donors in the country will converge next month at the historic Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach for a two-day meeting to rally behind Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The closed gathering, named the “Red Vest Retreat” after the fleece Youngkin wore during his 2021 campaign, will begin Oct. 17 and be focused, officially, on the Republican effort to win full control of the General Assembly in Virginia’s upcoming elections. But unofficially, several donors tell me, it will be an opportunity for them to try to push, if not shove, Youngkin into the Republican presidential race.
Others say they will be busy prodding Youngkin and his allies in phone calls from afar. “He appears to be leaving the door open,” Thomas Peterffy, a billionaire who has already given millions of dollars to Youngkin’s PAC, told me this week. “And if Republicans win in Virginia, maybe we can talk him into it. He obviously wants to see what emerges, what the state of play is.
“The money would be there,” Peterffy assured me.
Drafting Youngkin as a last-minute addition to the sclerotic Republican presidential field is something that has lingered for months as a donor fantasy — a whispered, can-you-imagine gambit rarely meriting much discussion because there has been widespread hope that somebody, anybody, would gain traction against former president Donald Trump. But now, fantasy talk of an audacious, break-the-glass moment for the anti-Trump faction has morphed into not-so-quiet consideration.
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Wednesday’s debate in California likely did little to calm the restlessness felt by plugged-in Republicans desperate for an alternative to Trump. Even as some contenders understandably boast about a bounce, dissatisfaction with the field has become a refrain that will not abate.
The thirsting for Youngkin is not a well-orchestrated power play. It is the latest slapdash scheme in a long search for a standard-bearer and a portrait of the powerlessness so many Republicans feel as Trump plows ahead, shrugging off criminal indictments and outrage over rhetoric they fear is growing dark and dangerous.
After months of hearing mostly about Democratic concern about President Biden’s poll numbers or his age, it’s evident that a Republican panic is emerging from hibernation.
Donors and anti-Trump Republicans have been fixated on Youngkin for two years, since his 2021 election impressed them for how he was able to win support from Trump voters while keeping Trump himself at a distance. They also know a direct challenge to Trump would be politically brutal — and that late entries are logistically near-impossible.
Nevertheless, the anti-Trump Republicans carry on, in text messages and emails, and over meals at five-star hotels, talking to friends and megadonors about the need to be prepared to help Youngkin ramp up a robust national campaign. They want to be ready.
“I’m for whoever can beat Trump in the primary and, while I still think some of the current candidates can do this, I’d welcome Youngkin putting his oar in,” William P. Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, told me. “If the governor indicated he’d to it, I believe he would draw serious support and be a strong candidate,” Barr said.
Rupert Murdoch, the new chairman emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp., has encouraged Youngkin in at least two face-to-face meetings, as The Post reported last month. And Murdoch has continued to speak highly of a possible Youngkin campaign to colleagues, according to a person familiar with his comments.
“The search for other people is very real,” Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told me, recounting how he went to Atlanta in August to try to recruit Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who resisted Trump’s pressure campaign in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Bolton left unconvinced that Kemp would do it. “A lot of people put Youngkin in the category of a kind of fresh face who could make a difference,” he said. (Bolton hasn’t ruled out his own late run if others decide against it.)
Of course, many other donors and anti-Trump Republicans hope that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) or former vice president Mike Pence, among others, could eventually pull even with Trump. But the experience of DeSantis has dampened spirits. If someone who thundered to national prominence couldn’t overtake Trump by now, who can?
“DeSantis has faltered and failed to meet expectations and donors know it,” Ed Rollins, Ronald Reagan’s former campaign manager, told me. “No one has a real opening right now, but people are trying to figure out what to do.”
Others say they will be busy prodding Youngkin and his allies in phone calls from afar. “He appears to be leaving the door open,” Thomas Peterffy, a billionaire who has already given millions of dollars to Youngkin’s PAC, told me this week. “And if Republicans win in Virginia, maybe we can talk him into it. He obviously wants to see what emerges, what the state of play is.
“The money would be there,” Peterffy assured me.
Drafting Youngkin as a last-minute addition to the sclerotic Republican presidential field is something that has lingered for months as a donor fantasy — a whispered, can-you-imagine gambit rarely meriting much discussion because there has been widespread hope that somebody, anybody, would gain traction against former president Donald Trump. But now, fantasy talk of an audacious, break-the-glass moment for the anti-Trump faction has morphed into not-so-quiet consideration.
Press Enter to skip to end of carousel
Wednesday’s debate in California likely did little to calm the restlessness felt by plugged-in Republicans desperate for an alternative to Trump. Even as some contenders understandably boast about a bounce, dissatisfaction with the field has become a refrain that will not abate.
The thirsting for Youngkin is not a well-orchestrated power play. It is the latest slapdash scheme in a long search for a standard-bearer and a portrait of the powerlessness so many Republicans feel as Trump plows ahead, shrugging off criminal indictments and outrage over rhetoric they fear is growing dark and dangerous.
After months of hearing mostly about Democratic concern about President Biden’s poll numbers or his age, it’s evident that a Republican panic is emerging from hibernation.
Donors and anti-Trump Republicans have been fixated on Youngkin for two years, since his 2021 election impressed them for how he was able to win support from Trump voters while keeping Trump himself at a distance. They also know a direct challenge to Trump would be politically brutal — and that late entries are logistically near-impossible.
Nevertheless, the anti-Trump Republicans carry on, in text messages and emails, and over meals at five-star hotels, talking to friends and megadonors about the need to be prepared to help Youngkin ramp up a robust national campaign. They want to be ready.
“I’m for whoever can beat Trump in the primary and, while I still think some of the current candidates can do this, I’d welcome Youngkin putting his oar in,” William P. Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, told me. “If the governor indicated he’d to it, I believe he would draw serious support and be a strong candidate,” Barr said.
Rupert Murdoch, the new chairman emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp., has encouraged Youngkin in at least two face-to-face meetings, as The Post reported last month. And Murdoch has continued to speak highly of a possible Youngkin campaign to colleagues, according to a person familiar with his comments.
“The search for other people is very real,” Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told me, recounting how he went to Atlanta in August to try to recruit Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who resisted Trump’s pressure campaign in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Bolton left unconvinced that Kemp would do it. “A lot of people put Youngkin in the category of a kind of fresh face who could make a difference,” he said. (Bolton hasn’t ruled out his own late run if others decide against it.)
Of course, many other donors and anti-Trump Republicans hope that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) or former vice president Mike Pence, among others, could eventually pull even with Trump. But the experience of DeSantis has dampened spirits. If someone who thundered to national prominence couldn’t overtake Trump by now, who can?
“DeSantis has faltered and failed to meet expectations and donors know it,” Ed Rollins, Ronald Reagan’s former campaign manager, told me. “No one has a real opening right now, but people are trying to figure out what to do.”
