Has Trump's "Gestapo" Schtick Been a Desperate Attempt to Shore Up His Donor Base?

If so, it doesn't seem to be working.

The Godfathers of big political money seem to be taking a pass on Donald Trump's campaign this year.

Finally, after months of rumours, Trump's biggest 2016 donors, Robert and Drucilla Mercer, have confirmed they'll not be floating the Great Orange Bloat's campaign boat this year.  That according to Business Insider this morning.  The New York Times reported earlier this week that other megadonors such as Sheldon Adelson also haven't been cutting cheques to Trump's PAC.  The focus seems to have shifted to defending Republican control of the Senate.

The private discussions about whether to shift resources toward imperiled Republican Senate candidates reflect a mix of factors: a lack of confidence that Mr. Trump will beat Joseph R. Biden Jr.; fear that the president is already a drag on down-ballot candidates; desire to maintain a G.O.P. “firewall” on Capitol Hill if Mr. Biden prevails; and the belief that money is not among Mr. Trump’s myriad problems. 

A series of national polls last week showed Mr. Trump stuck double digits behind Mr. Biden, who now tops 50 percent in many surveys. The president has more than three months to rebound, of course, and he is flush with cash and continues to raise large sums online. But the trend on the Republican political landscape is toward erosion, not growth.

On Monday, new campaign filings showed that the billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife contributed $25 million to a super PAC dedicated to electing Senate Republicans in June, his biggest contribution of the 2020 cycle so far. Mr. Adelson has yet to contribute to Mr. Trump’s main super PAC.

GOP insiders, meanwhile, fret that an abandonment of Trump by his donor base could have spillover effects in the Senate.

A total collapse at the top of the ticket, Republican strategists and donors agree, would only make holding the Senate harder. But maintaining the Senate is an imperative for the G.O.P.: A Democratic Senate could offer a glide path for liberal Supreme Court nominees from a President Biden, or block Mr. Trump’s judges if he won a second term. And right now, Senate Republican incumbents and candidates are losing badly in the money chase not just in the top Senate battlegrounds — states like Maine, Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina — but also in conservative states, such as Montana, where seats are now increasingly up for grabs.