Bernie Marcus, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot, said he is endorsing former President Donald Trump for president in 2024, arguing that he’s concerned about what’s “happening to America.”
“For Democrats, the choice is simple. If you feel that you are better off now than you were three years ago, you should vote for Joe Biden or whoever is the Democrat candidate,” he wrote. “For Republicans, the choice is also simple. Let’s face it: Donald Trump is going to win the nomination. You should be doing all you can to ensure his winning the general election.”
The 94-year-old Home Depot co-founder made reference to what he described as insecurity around the U.S.–Mexico border, which has allowed millions of people to cross in recent years. Another issue he cited is education and that “our educational leaders tell us that they know better than parents how to raise our children.
“Working men and women are struggling to provide for their families and must raid their retirement funds just to feed, clothe, and take care of their children,” Mr. Marcus wrote. “These are just a few of the problems America is facing after three years of bad government policies. They cannot be our legacy.
Elaborating on his support for President Trump’s bid, he added that it’s “not for any financial gain or advantage,” adding that his involvement in Home Depot’s success only could have “done this in America because of America’s system of free enterprise and pro-jobs growth government policies. The state of America today, especially record inflation, government over-regulation, and the problems of the last three years, would prevent my partners and I from succeeding as we have.”
It comes as another billionaire GOP donor, Robert Bigelow, announced that he would be switching his support to President Trump after backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also vying for the Republican presidential nomination.
Previously, Mr. Bigelow, who owns Budget Suites of America and an aerospace firm, said he wouldn’t support the former president’s bid after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach before backing Mr. DeSantis.
While in the White House, President Trump “was a really good commander … which is what this country needs,” he told the Las Vegas paper.
Polls
“We should really be very mindful here and one of the reasons why is just a year ago, back in 2022 there was the red wave that never materialized,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a White House briefing this week.
“Our focus obviously is going to be doing what the president was elected to do, which is focusing on delivering for the American people,” she added, saying that there will be “a lot of polls” showing different results.
The NY Times survey found that a significant number of voters are concerned with President Biden’s age. If he’s reelected, President Biden, 80, would be leaving the White House at age 86 at the end of his second term.
About 71 percent of voters said they agree to some extent that he is “just too old” to be president, and about 39 percent said the same about President Trump, according to the poll.
The poll results come also despite the former president having been indicted in four separate cases in Washington, Georgia, New York, and Florida. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, saying that they’re tantamount to election interference.
