In an interview with the Boston Globe, billionaire CEO and conservative “independent,” Seth Klarman who reportedly donated more than $7 million to Republicans during President Obama’s administration told the Globe he’s fed up with the Republican Party. He says he thinks that the Republican party is so far afield as far as being a political party that can actually run a country, that it is his civic duty to help make sure they are thrown out of power.
He’s given roughly $222,000 since the 2016 election to 78 Democrats running for Congress, according to federal election data from 2017 and a preview of Klarman’s first-quarter donations provided to the Globe by a person familiar with his giving.
“The Republicans in Congress have failed to hold the president accountable and have abandoned their historic beliefs and values,” Klarman said in a prepared statement to the Globe, opening up for the first time about the reasons behind his change in political giving. “For the good of the country, the Democrats must take back one or both houses of Congress.”
The guy is a billionaire conservative so I’m not going to throw him any parades; but he does have a flare for the middle finger.
“I received a tax cut I neither need nor want,” said Klarman, who Forbes estimates is worth $1.5 billion. “I’m choosing to invest it to fight the administration’s flawed policies and to elect Democrats to the Senate and House of Representatives.”
According to the Globe, Klarman has donated to dozens of House and Senate seat races, while also giving a couple million to nonprofits that work on environmental and gun control causes.