Top CEOs don’t wish to “risk public backlash” in the event that they support Trump, analyst says

The conviction of the previous president on 34 counts by a New York jury will result in a “measurable but small drop away from Trump” amongst voters overall, he said. Bloomberg TV on Friday After telling clients in a note that this could also make it tougher to realize serious financial and political support on Wall Street.

And this despite billionaires like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Miriam Adelson supporting Trump and Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman sharply criticizing the hush money trial and He reportedly tends to support Trump to.

However, Haines made a distinction between such billionaires and the CEOs of most other large public corporations.

“If you look for your average CEO or C-suite executive of a Fortune 500 company who is accountable to shareholders, they’re going to be very cautious about how they present themselves or whether they show up at all,” he said. “I mean, they don’t want to risk public reprisal for supporting Trump, I think.”

Meanwhile, the conviction has led to a surge in fundraising, with the Republican Party’s WinRed platform briefly collapsing under the load of grassroots donors on Thursday. On Friday evening, the Trump campaign said it had raised nearly $53 million within the 24 hours following the decision, setting a brand new Republican record and narrowing the fundraising gap with President Joe Biden.

Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee on July 14.

Regardless of the decision Trump receives, Haines expects the convention to be held “at a very high level,” which could help mobilize the Republican base.

“But I think that scares away a lot of the independents that Trump needs to win the general election,” he added. “I think that could be a problem for him.”