Steve Schwarzman, the CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, a private equity and real estate firm, blasted President Joe Biden’s policies on multiple issues when he threw his support behind presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump on Friday.
Schwarzman, who is Jewish, told Axios on Friday that the “dramatic rise of anti-Semitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency.” The 77-year-old businessman added that the Biden administration’s policies on the economy, immigration, and foreign affairs “are taking the country in the wrong direction.”
“For these reasons, I am planning to vote for change and support Donald Trump for president,” he said. “In addition, I will be supporting Republican Senate candidates and other Republicans up and down the ticket.”
The billionaire has previously supported moderate Republicans and was close to Trump during the former president’s time in the White House, but following the GOP’s disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections, Schwarzman said that it was time for the Republican Party to move past Trump and “turn to a new generation of leaders.”
After Trump easily won the Republican presidential primary against numerous candidates, however, Schwarzman is again backing the former president.
Schwarzman has donated tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates, including Trump, in the past. He also was the chairman of President Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum for the first seven months of Trump’s term in office.
Jon Gray, Blackstone’s COO and president and the heir apparent to Schwarzman, has endorsed Biden’s re-election bid and donates to Democratic candidates, Axios reported.
Schwarzman’s endorsement of Trump comes as President Biden faces criticism for his policies on numerous issues, especially on illegal immigration and the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration has been slammed for ordering a U.S. forces operation to build a pier to get humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
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A U.S. official said that none of the aid that the Biden administration has sent through the pier has reached the Palestinian people as it is stolen. Earlier this week, three U.S. soldiers suffered non-combat injuries while working to support the “humanitarian aid mission to Gaza.” One of the three troops “was transported to a medical facility and is in critical condition.”
Meanwhile, on the U.S. southern border, illegal immigrants continue to take advantage of Biden’s border policies as hundreds of thousands of border crossings have been reported in the first four months of 2024 alone. American voters have said that immigration is their main concern for the 2024 election.
