美国繁荣行动组织亿万富翁查尔斯·科氏及其在共和党总统初选中支持妮基·黑利的富裕保守派网络支持的倡导组织将不再为她的竞选活动花钱。
海莉在初选中失败后-包括她的家乡南卡罗来纳州据美国繁荣协会首席执行官艾米丽·塞德尔发送的一封内部员工电子邮件称，法新社已决定将其使命重新集中在美国参议院和众议院的竞选上。
塞德尔写道，法新社仍然对其支持充满信心，并仍然支持海利，但认识到在接下来的初选中面临的挑战。
塞德尔写道:“她已经明确表示将继续战斗，我们全心全意地支持她的这一努力。“但考虑到未来初选各州面临的挑战，我们不相信任何外部团体能够在拓宽她的胜利之路方面发挥实质性作用。”
针对这一消息，海利竞选团队感谢该组织是“为自由和保守政府而战的盟友”。
“我们感谢他们在这场竞选中给予的巨大帮助，”海莉竞选团队的声明继续说道。“我们的斗争仍在继续，仅在过去24小时内就有超过100万美元来自草根保守派，我们有足够的燃料继续下去。我们要拯救一个国家。”
法新社有一个强大的基础设施来对抗海利的竞争对手、前总统唐纳德·特朗普，该公司主要专注于敲门和数字广告。
塞德尔将他们的基层行动描述为“不可忽视的力量”，并祝贺工作人员与300多万选民进行了互动。
科赫支持的团体没有参加2016年和2020年的总统竞选，但利用大量资源试图推动海利的竞选活动。目前尚不清楚自代言以来的过去四个月里花了多少钱，但该集团手头有现金。据报道，在6月份的最后一次公开申报中，该公司筹集了7000多万美元，其中2500万美元来自科赫本人，另外2500万美元来自他的一个非营利组织。
共和党总统候选人、前美国驻联合国大使妮基·黑利·雷克...
布莱恩·斯奈德/路透社
随着该组织将努力转向向下投票的竞选，塞德尔表示，“最重要和最困难的挑战”将是说服拒绝投票给特朗普的独立选民支持他们的共和党候选人。
政治是第一个报道法新社停止资助海莉的新闻的人。
Koch-backed group halts financial support for Haley
Americans For Prosperity Action, an advocacy organization backed by billionaire Charles Koch and his network of wealthy conservatives supporting Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary, will no longer spend money on behalf of her campaign.
Following Haley’s defeat in the early primary states --including her home state of South Carolina, on Saturday night -- AFP has decided to refocus its mission on United States Senate and House races, according to an internal staff email sent by Americans For Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel and reviewed by ABC News.
Seidel wrote that AFP remains confident in its endorsement and still supports Haley but recognizes the challenges moving forward into the next primary states.
"She has made it clear that she will continue to fight and we wholeheartedly support her in this effort," Seidel wrote. "But given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory."
Reacting to the news, the Haley campaign thanked the group for being an "ally in the fight for freedom and conservative government."
"We thank them for their tremendous help in this race," the statement from Haley’s campaign continued. "Our fight continues, and with more than $1 million coming in from grassroots conservatives in just the last 24 hours, we have plenty of fuel to keep going. We have a country to save."
AFP had a hefty infrastructure in place to combat Haley’s rival, former President Donald Trump, which primarily focused on door-knocking and digital advertisements.
Seidel characterized their grassroots operations as a "force to be reckoned with" and congratulated staff for engaging with over 3 million voters.
The Koch-backed group stayed out of the 2016 and 2020 presidential cycles but utilized significant resources to try and boost Haley's campaign. It is unclear how much money was spent over the last four months since its endorsement, but the group had cash on hand. It reported raising over $70 million in its last public filing in June, with $25 million coming from Koch himself and another $25 million from one of his nonprofit groups.
As the group turns its efforts to down-ballot races, Seidel suggested the "most important and hardest challenge" will be convincing independent voters who refuse to cast a ballot for Trump to support their Republican candidates.
Politicowas first to report the news of AFP suspending funding for Haley.
