Delray Beach, Florida — Steve Alembik, a prominent donor to former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, passed away last week in a tragic incident that appears to be an attempted murder-suicide.
The incident took place on October 10 in the parking lot of a BurgerFi restaurant in Delray Beach. Alembik, aged 72, was found dead after allegedly shooting himself and another woman, believed to be his wife, who is in her 40s. Thankfully, she survived the ordeal despite suffering gunshot wounds to her arm and back.
Alembik had been a notable contributor to the GOP, having donated over $200,000 to political causes over the last two decades, including substantial amounts to Trump and DeSantis.
However, his reputation became marred in 2018 when he used racist language to describe former President Barack Obama and made derogatory comments about the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Alembik later expressed regret for his statements but defended his use of offensive language, citing examples of comedians like Chris Rock using similar terms. He argued that the context should be taken into account.
During the time of his controversial remarks, Alembik had donated to then-Florida Governor Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis. Both campaigns distanced themselves from him, with Scott donating the $1,100 he received from Alembik to Shriners Hospital. A political action committee supporting DeSantis’ campaign also returned a portion of their donations, but $4,000 had already been spent and could not be refunded.
Despite these actions, records revealed that DeSantis’ re-election campaign and a state PAC supporting the campaign received over $5,000 from Alembik in 2021 and 2022, as reported by the Miami Herald.
Alembik made headlines again in 2017 when he moved a charity gala for his pro-Israel nonprofit to Mar-a-Lago after numerous mainstream charities pulled their events from the venue following President Trump’s controversial statements about the events in Charlottesville. He promoted the event on Chinese social media platforms, suggesting attendees would have access to the former president, although Trump had never planned to attend the event.
Despite some hiccups at the gala, Alembik expressed his support for Trump and raised more than $7,500 for committees backing the former president.
The motive for the recent shooting remains unclear. Those who knew Alembik mentioned his history of mental health struggles, with some expressing sadness about his mental health challenges. In December 2018, he had been arrested on domestic violence charges, which were later dismissed via pre-trial diversion.
