Well-connected New York City billionaire John Catsimatidis said he would commit his significant resources to getting a Republican elected president if President Joe Biden runs for reelection.
The 74-year-old business mogul discussed his dissatisfaction with Biden and thoughts on the 2024 presidential election during a Friday interview with the Washington Examiner. The self-made billionaire said he would be backing any Republican challenging Biden within reason.
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“Yes, I would commit to the Republican candidate over Biden, unless the Republican candidate is somebody really bad,” Catsimatidis said, although he said that imagining a candidate worse than Biden is challenging.
Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are by far the two leading GOP candidates in the 2024 polling. Catsimatidis said he would back either over Biden.
Catsimatidis, who is a major figure in the New York political and business scene, said he has been dining with possible Republican presidential nominees and hopes to get a sense of each candidate. He is waiting to make an endorsement decision until the primary debates.
“When I make up my mind and decision, with all of my resources and all of our resources, we will commit because we want the United States of America to survive to 2076,” he said.
Catsimatidis, who is known for donating to candidates from both parties (he gave to both Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016), spoke about the division facing the country. He said it is critical that Republicans and Democrats have dialogue and eschew extremism both on the Left and Right.
“I was a Bill Clinton Democrat, I’ve been a Ronald Reagan Republican — I believe in common sense,” he said. “I think Republicans and Democrats should sit down together and yell at each other and do what they have to do to come up with a good solution for America.”
Catsimatidis, who just released the book How Far Do You Want to Go?: Lessons from a Common-Sense Billionaire, estimated about 40% of the country will support the Republican nominee no matter what, and 40% will back Biden or the Democratic nominee. The election will come down to the remaining 20% of more independent-minded voters.
He said that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is “one smart guy,” as is Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA). He described former Vice President Mike Pence as “one great honest guy, you know, straight arrow.”
Catsimatidis said the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, coupled with Biden’s plan to cancel some student loan debt, cut against Republicans and prevented the so-called “red wave” that many political pundits predicted would happen from materializing in the midterm elections.
“I believe women should have their right over their own body, along with their doctors and along with their families,” Catsimatidis said. “And any other position other than that will hurt the GOP.”
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“The red wave went away because young people 18 to 30 voted for Democrats because they wanted their $10,000 back,” Catsimatidis said of Biden’s actions to forgive student loan debt.
He said Republicans should have restrained their opposition to the forgiveness because if they aren’t able to win back the White House and Congress, the amount of government spending to forgive student loans is just a drop in the pond compared to the Democratic spending agenda.
