Billionaire GOP donor: Trump is 'a divisive human being who belongs in jail'

31 October 2023

Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman — who has almost exclusively donated to Republicans throughout his career — recently issued a stern rebuke of former President Donald Trump.

In an interview with CNN, the Republican mega-donor who has most recently backed former New Jersey Governor and prominent Trump critic Chris Christie acknowledged that he "very reluctantly" voted for Joe Biden in 2020. However, he also warned voters of the dangers of a second Trump term.

"It would be terrible for the country if Donald Trump were reelected," Cooperman said. "He’s a divisive human being who belongs in jail."

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Cooperman, who is chairman and CEO of the hedge fund Omega Advisors, said that Biden and Trump were both "bad choices." He added that if the major party nominees were Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2024, he probably wouldn't vote at all.

"I’m looking for centrists, not radical left or right," he said.

The Wall Street titan's criticism of Trump stands out in particular due to his record as both a champion of GOP causes and vociferous crusader against Democrats. In 2021, he railed against Senator Elizabeth Warren's (D-Massachusetts) so-called "Ultra Millionaires Tax," which would have implemented a 2% annual tax on households with a net worth in excess of $50 million. Billionaires would pay 3% annually, according to Warren's proposal. Cooperman called Warren a "superficial, nasty hater" and a "political charlatan" when she was running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

The hedge fund CEO isn't the only Republican billionaire donor distancing himself from Trump. Ken Griffin, the founder of hedge fund Citadel, threw his weight behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last year and referred to the 45th president of the United States as a "three-time loser." Blackstone CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman backed Trump in 2020, but has since said he'll eventually put his money and support behind "a new generation of leaders." And Miriam Adelson — widow of deceased Republican billionaire Sheldon Adelson — is reportedly staying neutral in the 2024 Republican primary despite donating $90 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020 and giving $800,000 of her own money to a joint fundraising effort run by Trump and the Republican Party.

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