Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, a lifelong Democrat, said he could see himself voting for President Trump over Bernie Sanders if the Vermont senator becomes the Democratic nominee.
“I think I might find it harder to vote for Bernie than for Trump,” he told the Financial Times. “There’s a long time between now and then. The Democrats would be working very hard to find someone who is as divisive as Trump. But with Bernie, they would have succeeded.”
Blankfein, a billionaire, said he did not support Sanders’s proposed wealth tax on the richest Americans. The proposed tax would cut in half the wealth of a typical billionaire after 15 years, according to two economists who worked with the Vermont senator’s campaign on the plan.
Sanders has also said billionaires should not be allowed to exist.
“I don’t like assassination by categorization. I think it’s un-American. I find that destructive and intemperate. I find that just as subversive of the American character as someone like Trump who denigrates groups of people who he has never met. At least Trump cares about the economy,” Blankfein said.
Blankfein and Sanders have a history of being critical of each other. Sanders included the former Goldman Sachs executive on a list of “anti-endorsements” he released last summer.
After Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, Blankfein said the Russians might consider helping Sanders in the general election, if he wins the nomination.
“If Dems go on to nominate Sanders, the Russians will have to reconsider who to work for to best screw up the US. Sanders is just as polarizing as Trump AND he’ll ruin our economy and doesn’t care about our military. If I’m Russian, I go with Sanders this time around,” he tweeted.
If Dems go on to nominate Sanders, the Russians will have to reconsider who to work for to best screw up the US. Sanders is just as polarizing as Trump AND he’ll ruin our economy and doesn’t care about our military. If I’m Russian, I go with Sanders this time around.
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) February 12, 2020
