(Bloomberg) -- Citadel founder Ken Griffin signaled his attention in US presidential debates remained on Nikki Haley, putting his hopes on a “great night” for her.

“If she does, I think that could be a galvanizing moment for her campaign,” Griffin said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Thursday in Singapore as the third Republican debate took place in Miami. 

The candidates clashed over questions on foreign policy crises and the party’s latest election losses, an embarrassment the candidates blamed on former President Donald Trump.

When asked if he believed Haley could beat Trump in the primaries, Griffin said “it’s going to come down to how does the American public incorporate the legal morass that former President Trump’s enmeshed in.”

Read: GOP Field Spars Over Foreign Policy, Blames Trump for Losses

Griffin said he believed Trump is being “100%” politically persecuted and a number of the charges against him were “really flimsy.” The billionaire is a prominent Republican donor, known for his earlier support of Ron DeSantis’s campaign before taking issue with the candidate’s battle with Walt Disney Co. 

There are a growing number of lawsuits filed across the US seeking to disqualify Trump from another term in the White House because of his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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Griffin has called Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, a “rock star” on the campaign trail and said she has the experience to be in the Oval Office.

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He added that if it came down to Trump versus Joe Biden again, he would need to assess each of their “state of mental health” at that point to decide who to back.

Griffin said having a “sound mind would be really important” for the next US president, because the world is seeing two wars now. The US is “on the periphery but instrumental” to supporting Ukraine in its conflict against Russia, he said.

“If Ukraine falls, the next border is NATO,” Griffin said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

(Updates with more details about US presidential elections)

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