Robert Bigelow – who gave Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a whopping $20m and never even so much as received a phone call of thanks – has told the Financial Times that President Donald J. Trump “would probably be the strongest commander, with the most experience… that’s only one guy.”
Bigelow had warned the DeSantis team as early as three months ago that he would be taking his support elsewhere if the campaign issues were not resolved. Now, it appears he is ready to pull the trigger on that pledge.
“Who would you want as a commander? I’d want somebody that would be a hell of an ass kicker if he needed to be,” Bigelow told the FT over a four hour conversation. “On the face of it, you lean toward Trump.”
“I think Trump is too strong,” he continued, “I think Trump has the momentum, the inertia, to beat [DeSantis],” he added, referring to the Governor of Florida as “dinner” and the 45th President as a “bull.”
And the hotel tycoon gave a fascinating insight into the way DeSantis treats his supporters: “Bigelow said he expected the governor to contact him. But it was DeSantis’s wife Casey who called, two weeks later.”
The Bigelow Aerospace founder – the single largest donor to DeSantis to date – is not alone in abandoning hope in the Florida Governor. Two previously strong supporters – Keith Rabois and Jacob Helberg – defected to Nikki Haley’s campaign last month.
