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'Disaster Zone': Liberal Billionaire Isn't Holding Back on 'Communist' Bernie

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Haim Saban is a billionaire media mogul best known for bringing the series that would become known as “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” to the United States.

He’s a liberal, but a pro-Israel liberal.

He was the biggest donor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, giving even more money than George Soros.

And he thinks that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is a “disaster zone.”

The comments came from an interview the 74-year-old did with The Hollywood Reporter that was published Wednesday. In it, Saban made it clear that support for the Jewish state was one of his key priorities in his philanthropy.

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“The basic strategy is 50-50. Meaning for every dollar we give in America, we give a dollar in Israel,” Saban said about his philanthropic work, which consists of giving away much of his $3.2 billion fortune. “I was an immigrant twice, once from Egypt to Israel. Israel opened her arms and took me in. And America opened her arms, and I’m an American citizen now.”

That fortune could also have an outsized influence on the 2020 presidential race.

“In addition to being two of Hollywood’s most active and visible philanthropists, the couple also is one of the largest donors to the Democratic Party, which is why all eyes are on who they will back in the 2020 presidential election,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Tatiana Siegel wrote of Saban and his wife, Cheryl. “After the first debates, they remained undecided.”

“We love all 23 candidates,” Haim said. Then he added: “No, minus one. I profoundly dislike Bernie Sanders, and you can write it. I don’t give a hoot.

“He’s a communist under the cover of being a socialist. He thinks that every billionaire is a crook. He calls us ‘the billionaire class.’ And he attacks us indiscriminately. ‘It’s the billionaire class, the bad guys.’ This is how communists think. So, 22 are great. One is a disaster zone.”

Saban also blamed Sanders — and his socialist comrade in the lower house, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — for engendering anti-Israeli sentiment among the Democrats.

“I can’t deny the impact that Bernie has had on the Democratic Party,” he said.

“I love it when Bernie says, ‘I recognize Israel’s right to exist.’ That’s how he expresses his support of Israel,” Saban said. “Well, thank you so very much. Are you out of your freaking mind? Oh, I’m allowed to live. Hallelujah, praise the lord.”

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That impact includes the fact that the major Democratic presidential candidates skipped the annual summit of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, something that Saban held Sanders partially responsible for.

As for Ocasio-Cortez …

Do you agree that Sen. Bernie Sanders is a 'disaster zone'?

“AOC made a statement: ‘There’s a massacre in Gaza,'” Saban said. “She was asked a question related to what’s going on between Israel and the Palestinians, and she said, ‘Well, I’m going to have to study this.’ So, here she made a statement that is pretty scary and pretty compelling but misinformed. Why don’t you go study and then make a statement?”

Saban didn’t say much about President Donald Trump’s Israel policies, including the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

“There are some steps that he took that I am very pleased with, and there are some steps that he took that could’ve been taken but in a broader context,” he said.

Well, Saban clearly isn’t going to be a convert to the GOP anytime soon, but at least he’s not normalizing Sanders’ far-left politics. As for the rest of the party’s drift, his wife made it clear that they weren’t about to wade into the muck.

“We’re not going to be involved until the playing field is settled down. It’s too important not to be,” Cheryl Saban said. “We are just holding off for now, because there’s going to come a time when somebody is going to need a lot of help.”

If it ends up being Sanders, I wouldn’t be counting on that help.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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