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Marcus, a co-founder of home improvement retailer the Home
Depot, announced earlier this month that he was supporting
Trump, the runaway frontrunner for the 2024 Republican
nomination contest that kicks off on Jan. 15 in Iowa.
Trump faces four criminal cases, including state and federal
charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election
loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump, 77, denies any wrongdoing and
has pleaded not guilty in all four cases. The unprecedented
legal turmoil has prompted questions about what would happen to
Trump's campaign if he was convicted or jailed.
Asked in an interview with Reuters whether he would still
support Trump if he were convicted, Marcus replied, "I think so.
Because I think it's all trumped up."
Marcus, 94, who supported Trump's White House runs in 2016 and
2020, said he had spoken to the former president recently. "I
never discussed his legal fees or his legal problems," Marcus
said, adding that Trump was "very happy" about his support.
Marcus and his wife Billi Wilma Marcus were the seventh-largest
individual Republican donors in the 2020 election cycle, giving
nearly $25 million to Republican campaigns, according to
OpenSecrets, a nonprofit group that tracks money in politics.
Business magazine Forbes estimates Marcus' net worth at around
$8.8 billion.
Marcus would not be drawn into specifics of his donations this
time around, saying only he would support Trump in the primary
and in the general election against Biden in November 2024,
should Trump be the nominee. However, Marcus cautioned he would
not be a major financial supporter.
"Of course, I'm going to support him to some extent, but I'm not
one of his big givers, that's for sure," Marcus said.
The billionaire said he also liked Republican presidential
candidates Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South
Carolina governor, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but did
not think they could beat Trump in the nominating contest.
Marcus said he thought Trump was a "fixer" who would be
beneficial to the U.S. economy and strong on Middle East foreign
policy.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, additional reporting by Andrew
Goudsward; editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)
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