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This Republican billionaire using his tax breaks to fund Democrats – Metro US

This Republican billionaire using his tax breaks to fund Democrats

Seth Klarman

Boston billionaire Seth Klarman, who previously supported Republicans, will be using his windfall from the GOP tax-cut plan to fund Democratic candidates.

“The Republicans in Congress have failed to hold the president accountable and have abandoned their historic beliefs and values,” said Klarman in a statement to The Boston Globe. “For the good of the country, the Democrats must take back one or both houses of Congress.”

The CEO and president of Baupost Group, Klarman has a net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. He gave more than $7 million to Republican candidates during the Obama presidency but now says he will “invest” in Democrats, having given $200,000 to Democratic candidates since Trump’s inauguration.

And more is to come. “I received a tax cut I neither need nor want. I’m choosing to invest it to fight the administration’s flawed policies and to elect Democrats to the Senate and House of Representatives,” said Klarman.

The billionaire supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, calling Donald Trump “completely unqualified for the highest office in the land,” Reuters reported. He has also donated $2 million to Democratic issues such as gun control and environmental protection.

In October 2017, New York magazine reported that Klauman outlined some of his objections to Trump at an investment conference: “The president is a threat to democracy,” said Klauman according to audio of the event. “He has attacked journalists and he’s threatening to take away NBC’s license. He’s attacking judges. He’s violating all sorts of democratic norms, from the emoluments clause to questioning the election and threatening to lock up his opponent. People don’t focus on this, but Nazi Germany had a constitution before Hitler came to power and at the end of the war they had the exact same constitution. It lasted all the way through, but democracy didn’t.”

The billionaire added: “The country is getting divided, whether it’s immigrants, whether it’s transgender people, whether it’s blacks, whether it’s Mexicans. It’s awful.”