Ken Griffin, Bill Ackman to Appear With Potential Trump VP Tim Scott

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Tim Scott is slated to appear at a political event featuring some of the biggest names in finance, including Citadel’s Ken Griffin, Apollo’s Marc Rowan and Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, as the South Carolina Republican vies to be Donald Trump’s running mate.

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The June 19 gathering in Washington will also include venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and Crownquest Operating LLC co-founder Tim Dunn, according to an invitation obtained by Bloomberg News. The event will raise money for Great Opportunity Policy Inc., a political advocacy group allied with Scott, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The event, reported earlier by the New York Times, is the latest example of Scott, who is on Trump’s list of possible vice presidential nominees, publicly demonstrating what he could bring to the presidential ticket. Scott, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, has ties to deep-pocketed Wall Street donors, many of whom who have so far resisted financially supporting Trump.

Scott is far from the only potential running mates to appeal to Trump by highlighting his strengths. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum flew with Trump on Saturday to a rally and gave a speech touting the former president’s energy and regulatory policies. Ohio Senator JD Vance on Sunday said he would accept the 2024 election results only if they were “free and fair” and accompanied Trump to his criminal trial on Monday.

Read More: Trump Auditions VP Picks Before Wealthy Donors in Palm Beach

The featured speakers at the June event include some of the biggest donors to national political campaigns. Griffin, the second biggest individual donor so far in the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, has given $60 million, with most money going to Senate and House races. The billionaire also gave $5 million to the super political action committee that backed former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary, but not to Trump.

Trump’s campaign has roughly $100 million less cash on hand than President Joe Biden’s.

Donor Totals

Other speakers have also written big checks this election cycle. Andreessen, who ranks 15th among donors, has given $11 million to three affiliated super PACs that back candidates, both Republican and Democrat, who are friendly to crypto interests. Dunn, a major financial force in Texas politics, has given $6.5 million at the federal level, including $5 million to Trump’s allied super PAC. Rowan has given $2 million to super PACs that support electing Republicans to Congress.

Ackman is a more modest donor who has largely supported Democrats. But in June he posted on X that he would not support Biden in 2024 and was open to voting for Trump.

A representative for Ackman declined to comment. Representatives for Rowan, Dunn, Andreessen, Griffin and Conway weren’t immediately available to comment.

Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, has been an ardent supporter of Trump since ending his presidential bid last November. Earlier this month, Scott was among a group of Republican politicians who gathered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club with top GOP donors and influential party leaders. The event was widely seen as a chance for potential candidates to audition to join Trump on the ticket.

Trump has suggested he will draw out the vice president selection process, likely waiting until close to the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to pick a running mate.

--With assistance from Mitchell Ferman, Nancy Cook, Amanda Gordon and Allison McNeely.

(Updates with additional context, starting in third paragraph)

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