Bill Ackman to donate $1 million to Joe Biden, Democratic primary challenger Dean Phillips
- Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman praised Dean Phillips as his top choice for president, saying the centrist candidate would be ‘excellent’
- He blasted Biden, saying he is ‘way past his prime’ and would have ‘no chance’ of getting another job
- But Phillips still has a long way to go in the polls, where he currently trails Biden
Billionaire Bill Ackman donates $1 million to Biden’s rival, Dean Phillips, who is running for president, saying it would be a “tragedy if our only choices were Trump and Biden.”
In a lengthy post on ‘
Ackman’s donation to Phillips’ presidential campaign comes as Biden struggles in the national polls. Ackman said, “Biden is performing poorly against (Trump), and his grades are only going to get worse as he gets older, and he doesn’t look good as is.”
Instead, he praised the 54-year-old Minnesota representative as his top choice, saying, “Dean Phillips would make a truly outstanding president of the United States.”
Self-described “centrist,” Ackman said he will transfer $1 million on Tuesday to the super political action committee We Deserve Better, which supports Phillips.
The move is the latest crusade by Ackman, who led the ouster of Harvard President Claudine Gay over her inaction on campus anti-Semitism and allegations of plagiarism.
Bill Ackman is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and is most recently known for pushing for the impeachment of Harvard’s president
Ackman has supported Phillips’ long-running Democratic campaign and said he would make an “excellent” president
The hedge fund manager only met Phillips two months ago but said the donation was “by far the largest investment I have ever made in anyone running for office.”
He claimed that his “spidey sense” for “talented leaders” crumbled when he met Phillips.
“This is not a joke, I completely mean it,” Ackmam said.
Phillips is running on a centrist platform designed to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.
He wants to close the borders and build housing in Mexico or the asylum seekers’ home countries, where asylum seekers can live while they go through the legal process.
Despite Ackman’s support, Phillips still has a long way to go in the polls. Polls ahead of the New Hampshire primary showed Biden with a 69 percent lead, while Phillips trailed at 7 percent.
His campaign events failed to draw large crowds, with one meet-and-greet event not attended by a single voter.
But polls show voters are concerned about Biden’s age, with one voter, Dale Coy, who is now expected to support Phillips, telling Reuters: ‘Biden’s age is a real problem for me because 80 year olds are starting to have real mental energy problems to get. ‘
Ackman said Biden’s poll numbers “will only get worse as he gets older, and he doesn’t look good as he is.”
Ackman claimed there is a “reasonable possibility” that “Biden will have to withdraw for health reasons.”
He added, “With Dean rising in the polls and Biden worsening, the Democratic party will need to choose a candidate who can defeat the Republican candidate.
“If, as I expect, Dean significantly outperforms Biden against Trump by then, I predict the party will choose Dean Phillips over Biden. The party will have no choice.”
Ackman has made headlines in recent months for his outspoken criticism of the way Ivy League universities deal with anti-Semitism on campus.
He successfully campaigned for the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay and is now campaigning for an overhaul of Harvard’s governance.
Ackman, who has donated about $50 million to Harvard, said he supports Zoe Bedell, Logan Leslie, Julia Pollak and Alec Williams in their campaign to join the board of trustees under the banner of “Renew Harvard.”