Republican donors give big boost to Democratic presidential candidate RFK Jr.: analysis

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has gotten a big funding boost from Republican donors, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by Popular Information, raising questions about wealthy conservatives’ funding for a Democratic presidential candidate that Trump ally Steve Bannon once touted as “both a useful chaos agent in the 2024 race and a big name who could help stoke anti-vaccine sentiment around the country.” 

Kennedy’s campaign since June 30 has collected maximum $6,600 donations from 96 individuals — 37 of whom have only donated to Republican federal candidates, according to the analysis. Only 19 have a history of supporting Democrats, while 30 others have no giving history, eight others gave to members of both parties, and two others supported Libertarian or alternative candidates. 

One of the maximum donors was California aluminum tycoon Mark Dickson, who since 2015 has donated more than $400,000 to the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee, which split the cash between Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, state GOP parties, and other Trump backers. Another is retired car dealership executive Keith Sheldon, who in 2016 and 2020 donated the individual maximum to Trump’s campaign, also shelling out cash to other Trump PACs and GOP congressional candidates. Kennedy has also received monetary donations from a PAC headed by David Sacks, a public supporter of GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.