The Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Koch network's political advocacy arm, has backed former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in her 2024 presidential bid.
According to BBC News, the AFP lauded Haley as "a candidate capable of turning the page on Washington's toxic culture - and a candidate who can win." The announcement comes as the organization seeks to provide an alternative candidate over former president Donald Trump, who currently leads the race.
In response, Haley said she was “honored” by the support of the AFP, which consists of “millions of grassroots members.”
"AFP Action's members know that there is too much at stake in this election to sit on the sidelines," she wrote. "We have a country to save, and I'm grateful to have AFP Action by our side."
The Trump campaign, however, denounced the organization as “the political arm of the China First, America Last movement."
The campaign for Ron DeSantis, whom AFP recently endorsed during this 2022 re-election governor, criticized the decision as evidence of the political establishment "lining up behind a moderate who has no mathematical pathway of defeating the former president."
Despite the support for Haley, AFP apologized to DeSantis while at the same time warning that a divided primary field would benefit Trump and that "we are entering a time period that demands choices."
"As many of you know, AFP Action has never engaged in a presidential election before, but... to write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past," AFP stated in a memo released Tuesday.
"Donald Trump and Joe Biden will only further perpetuate the country's downward spiral in politics."
As reported by ABC News, a new Super PAC launched this week to target swinging independent voters to support Haley.
The PAC, called Independents Moving the Needle, is led by five entrepreneurs, including Jonathan Bush, the cousin of former President George W. Bush, and billionaire CEO Frank Laukien.
"This seemed like, maybe for the first time for many of us, where we personally felt, 'Wow, I've never been in politics and never intended to, but this time, I could make a positive difference together with my colleagues here,'" Laukein said, explaining why the PAC was launched to support Haley.
According to FEC filings, Bush donated an individual maximum of $6,300 to Haley this cycle, while Laukein has donated about $3,000 each to other GOP challengers, including Sen. Tim Scott, DeSantis, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The PAC will focus on New Hampshire’s primary, the first in the nation, as about 40 percent of voters in the state are registered as undeclared.
"We think we'll have the resources to do what we set out to do, which isn't some tug of war with another Republican candidate over that one vote that goes to one or the other. This is really for the majority of New Hampshire voters that is independent and unaffiliated," he said.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Theo Wargo/Staff
Video Courtesy: ABC News via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
