As the former President mounts his run to retake the White House, in typical Trump fashion, he is making it quite clear who his friends and enemies are. Case in point, the ex-president has lashed out at the once supportive conservative group, the Club for Growth.
The group earned Trump’s ire after he was left off the guest list of its annual donor retreat. In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump ripped the group as the “Club For NO Growth” and recounted how his ties to the group fell apart after disagreements over his endorsements in high-profile races in Alabama and Ohio last year.
He also laid into the club for initially opposing his candidacy in 2016 before repeating his claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” against him.
“The Club For NO Growth, an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers, fought me incessantly and rather viciously during my presidential run in 2016,” Trump wrote. “They said I couldn’t win, I did, and won even bigger in 2020, with millions of more votes than ‘16, but the Election was Rigged & Stollen.
“They asked to get together on Endorsements of candidates, we did, and had MANY WINS & NO losses. The relationship broke up over my Endorsement of certain great people in Alabama & Ohio. I won them all!”
Trump’s comments came after the Club’s President, David McIntosh, told reporters last week that the group had invited several prospective Republican presidential contenders to its annual donor retreat in Florida but had left Trump off its list. This despite the fact that Trump is so far the only declared candidate in the race and, of course, resides in the Sunshine State.
Among those who were invited to the gathering are former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
“We’ve invited all of the folks listed here,” McIntosh said. “Not Trump. But we’ve invited the others.”
While he hasn’t announced whether he intends to run for the White House in 2024, DeSantis has emerged as an early favorite for the Republican nomination and perhaps the biggest threat to Trump’s hopes of recapturing the White House.
A new poll from the Club for Growth shows DeSantis leading Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 primary match-up, with the Florida governor taking 49 percent of the vote to Trump’s 40 percent – which may account for whom they appear to be backing.