Billionaire Bill Ackman clarifies why he supports Trump over Harris in US polls

A couple of months ago, a man tried to assassinate the former US president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and failed. In the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt, a lot happened, sides were taken, lines were drawn and endorsements were made.

Around the same time, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman publicly endorsed Trump in the upcoming presidential election. He gave no reason to do so at the time, and many wondered, why? Ackman has had a history of endorsing Democratic candidates but this time, instead of endorsing the Democratic nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, Ackman chose to back Trump.

Months later, on October 11, Ackman decided to clarify his decision in a detailed post on the social media platform X.

"A number of my good friends and family have been surprised about my decision to support @realDonaldTrump for president. They have been surprised because my political giving history has been mostly to Democrats, my voting registration has typically been Democrat (in NY, you must be registered to the party in order to vote in the primary, and usually the Republican candidate has no chance to win), and many of our philanthropic initiatives have supported issues that are consistent with Democratic priorities,” Ackman wrote in the post.

He further described himself as a centrist and clarified that his endorsement did not come for money, of which he has plenty, or for a position in the Trump administration. He also admitted that Trump is an “imperfect man,” adding that, despite that, he “is by far the superior candidate despite his flaws and mistakes he has made in the past.”

Why did Ackman choose not to endorse Harris? He gave 33 reasons in total.

The billionaire started by raising the issue of immigration and blamed the Biden-Harris administration for opening up the borders to immigrants. He also highlighted the administration's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, increased regulations and economic policies that increased the nation’s expenses, making inflation worse.

Ackman also dipped his toes into the gender and education issues, noting his dissatisfaction with students being taught about gender fluidity and being allowed gender transitions. He also blamed the administration for allowing “antisemitism to explode.”

The billionaire also pointed fingers at the Democrats for hiding the true state of Biden’s health and letting Harris inherit his candidacy without a democratic process. About Harris, Ackman wrote as one of the reasons: “choose an inferior candidate for the presidency when other much more qualified candidates are available and interested to serve.”

Ackman listed many more gripes with the current administration, making his choice to support Trump clear.

“While the 33 actions I describe below are those of the Democratic Party and the Biden-Harris administration, they are also the actions and policies that, unfortunately, our most aggressive adversaries would likely implement if they wanted to destroy America from within, and had the ability to take control of our leadership,” Ackman wrote.