Club for Growth officials are involved with a new super PAC focused on defeating former President Donald Trump’s effort to become the Republican nominee in 2024’s presidential election, according to Politico.
The Club for Growth, an anti-tax and fiscal responsibility group that has worked to elect Republicans sharing its priorities, had previously supported Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential general elections. However, the new super PAC — known as the “Win It Back PAC” — launched by Club officials on Wednesday, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission, will spend money opposing him, per Politico. (RELATED: The GOP Fears This Conservative Group Could Cost Them Seats In 2024)
“Radical liberals won with the most beatable candidate we’ve seen in recent history, and as a result, we’ve seen record inflation, failing schools, and skyrocketing crime,” wrote the super PAC on its website. It added that “[w]e need a real conservative leader in the White House with a proven record of winning.”
JD Vance: “I call the Club for Growth the Club for Chinese Growth” pic.twitter.com/Oztmq6ugLp
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 25, 2021
The Club for Growth is linked to the PAC, with its treasurer being the Club for Growth PAC’s treasurer and a Club email address listed as the official respondent on the FEC filing. David McIntosh, the Club’s president, is listed as the Assistant Treasurer, though the super PAC does not appear to be a formal affiliate of the Club and isn’t featured on its websites.
McIntosh first claimed that “[t]he party should be open to another candidate” in reference to Trump at the Club’s donor retreat in Florida this year, a coveted opportunity for candidates to meet wealthy donors, per The New York Times. Several top GOP figures, including presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, were invited, with Trump being left off the list, according to the NYT.
The Club’s opposition to Trump has grown pointed since 2022 when it financially backed different candidates from those supported by him, who then lost their primaries amid their lack of Trump’s support. Trump has since called the organization the “Club for NO Growth” on TruthSocial.
The Club has become one of the top financial backers of Republican candidates in Washington, D.C., having spent over $150 million on GOP candidacies in 2020 and 2022. Its donor lists boast high net-worth individuals and several billionaire donors to Republicans — including Peter Thiel, Richard Uihlein, Jeffrey Yass, Robert Mercer, Paul Singer and J.W. Childs.
In colorful comments, a Trump spokesperson responded to the news by telling Politico that “their goal is to maintain their shady influence over Washington because they know President Trump stands in their way as he protects Americans from these vultures … [t]hese swamp dwellers will be crushed— without mercy and without remorse— and put back under the bridges where all trolls reside.”
Trump is the leading candidate for the nomination with 53% support, and his closest rival, DeSantis, has 20.9% support across an average of all major polls, per RealClearPolitics.
The Win It Back PAC and Club for Growth did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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