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‘On Veterans Day, Trump pledged to ‘root out the communists, Marxists, fascists
and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our
country’.’ Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
‘On Veterans Day, Trump pledged to ‘root out the communists, Marxists, fascists
and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our
country’.’ Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
OpinionUS politics



BILLIONAIRES ARE LINING UP TO FUND DONALD TRUMP’S ANTI-DEMOCRATIC AGENDA

Robert Reich



The more disturbing Trump’s public proclamations become, the more US plutocrats
seem to want him to win

Tue 21 Nov 2023 06.01 ESTLast modified on Tue 21 Nov 2023 15.37 EST
 * 
 * 
 * 



As an ever-greater portion of the nation’s total wealth goes to the top, it’s
hardly surprising that ever more of that wealth is corrupting US politics.

In the 2020 presidential election cycle, more than $14bn went to federal
candidates, party committees, and Super Pacs – double the $7bn doled out in the
2016 cycle. Total giving in 2024 is bound to be much higher.


The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s
fault
Margaret Sullivan

Read more

That money is not supporting US democracy. If anything, that money is
contributing to rising Trumpism and neofascism.

There is a certain logic to this.

As more and more wealth concentrates at the top, the moneyed interests
rationally fear that democratic majorities will take it away through higher
taxes, stricter regulations (on everything from trade to climate change),
enforcement of anti-monopoly laws, pro-union initiatives and price controls.



So they’re sinking ever more of their wealth into anti-democracy candidates.

Donald Trump is going full fascist these days and gaining the backing of
prominent billionaires.

Earlier this month, on Veterans Day, Trump pledged to “root out the communists,
Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the
confines of our country”, whom he accused of doing anything “to destroy America
and to destroy the American dream”. (Notably, he read these words from a
teleprompter, meaning that they were intentional rather than part of another
impromptu Trump rant.)

Days before, Trump claimed that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the
blood of our country”. The New York Times reported that he was planning to round
up millions of undocumented immigrants and detain them in sprawling camps while
they wait to be expelled.

Trump has publicly vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” Joe Biden
and his family, and has told advisers and friends that he wants the justice
department to investigate officials who have criticized his time in office.

This is, quite simply, full-throated neofascism.



Who’s bankrolling all this? While Trump’s base is making small contributions,
the big money is coming from some of the richest people in the US.

During the first half of the year, multiple billionaires donated to the
Trump-aligned Make America Great Again, Inc Super Pac.

Phil Ruffin (net worth of $3.4bn), the 88-year-old casino and hotel mogul, has
given multiple $1m donations.

Charles Kushner (family net worth of $1.8bn), the real estate mogul and father
of Jared, who received a late-term pardon from Trump in December 2020,
contributed $1m in June.

Robert “Woody” Johnson (net worth of $3.7bn), Trump’s former ambassador to the
United Kingdom and co-owner of the New York Jets, donated $1m to the Maga Pac in
April.

And so on.

But Trump is not the only extremist pulling in big dollars.

Nikki Haley – who appears moderate only relative to Trump’s blatant neofascism –
claimed in her campaign launch that Biden was promoting a “socialist” agenda.

During her two years as UN ambassador under Trump, Haley was a strong proponent
of his so-called “zero tolerance” policy under which thousands of migrant
children were separated from their parents and guardians.

She supported Trump’s decision to pull out of the UN human rights council and to
withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

Though she briefly criticized Trump for inciting the mob that attacked the US
Capitol on 6 January 2021, Haley soon defended Trump and called on Democratic
lawmakers to “give the man a break” when they impeached him for a second time.

Haley recently told Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press that while Trump’s
floating the idea of executing retired Gen Mark Milley might be “irresponsible”,
it is not enough to disqualify Trump from running for the White House again.

Haley’s billionaire supporters include Stanley Druckenmiller and Eric LeVine.
The Republican mega-donor Ken Griffin has said he is “actively contemplating”
supporting Haley.

Notably, Haley has also gained the support of JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive,
Jamie Dimon, who’s about as close as anyone in the US comes to being a
spokesperson for the business establishment. Dimon admires Haley’s recognition
of the role that “business and government can play in driving growth by working
together”.



The moneyed interests have been placing big bets on other Trumpist Republicans.

Peter Thiel, the multibillionaire tech financier who once wrote that “I no
longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible,” contributed more than
$35m to 16 federal-level Republican candidates in the 2022 campaign cycle,
making him the 10th largest individual donor to either party.

Twelve of Thiel’s candidates won, including Ohio’s now-senator JD Vance, who
alleged that the 2020 election was stolen and that Biden’s immigration policy
has meant “more Democrat voters pouring into this country”.

The Republican House majority leader, Steve Scalise, is creating a new
fundraising committee which will be soliciting contributions of up to $586,200 a
pop.

Elon Musk is not a major financial contributor to Trump nor other anti-democracy
candidates, but his power over one of the most influential megaphones in the US
gives him inordinate clout – which he is using to further the neofascist cause.

Witness Musk’s solicitude of Trump, his seeming endorsement of antisemitic
posts, his embrace of Tucker Carlson and “great replacement” theory, and his
avowed skepticism towards democracy.

Democracy is compatible with capitalism only if democracy is in the driver’s
seat, so it can rein in capitalism’s excesses.

But if capitalism and its moneyed interests are in charge, those excesses
inevitably grow to the point where they are able to extinguish democracy and
ride roughshod over the common good.

That’s why Trump’s neofascism – and the complicity of today’s Republican party
with it – are attracting the backing of some of the richest people in the US.

What’s the alternative? A loud pro-democracy movement that fights against
concentrated wealth at the top, humongous CEO pay packages, a politically
powerful financial sector, and tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations.

And fights for higher taxes on the top (including a wealth tax) to finance
Medicare for all, affordable housing, and accessible childcare and eldercare.

The willingness to make this a fight – to name the moneyed interests backing
neofascism, explain why they’re doing this, and mobilize and energize the US
against their agenda and in favor of democracy – is critical to winning the 2024
election and preserving and rebuilding US democracy.

Biden and the Democrats must take this on, loudly and clearly.

 * Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy
   at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving
   Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book,
   The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US
   columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com

 * This article was amended on 21 November 2023 to clarify Ken Griffin’s
   position

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