Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman recently said President Joe Biden should “step aside” and not run for reelection because he is not his “intellectual best,” noting he is “much more open to Republican candidates” over reelecting Biden.
Ackman’s opinion is significant because he is a well-respected investor with a pulse on financial markets.
Bill Ackman (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg)
“I think Biden’s done a lot of good things. But I think his legacy will not [be] a good one if he is the nominee,” Ackman told Bloomberg Television’s The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations. “I do think the right thing for Biden to do is step aside, and to say he’s not going to run, and create the opportunity for some competition.”
Ackman also said Biden is not at his intellectual best.
“You need to be at your intellectual best. And I don’t think Biden is there,” Ackman continued. “I don’t say that, you know, with any derision of the president. But I think he’s clearly past his physical and cognitive peak.”
Ackman also said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) “impressed” him as a 2024 candidate. Phillips launched a challenge to the president in October, which could cause problems for Biden, especially in New Hampshire. Biden is not on the ballot in the Granite State’s Democrat primary, though he hopes voters write him in.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN). (Photo by Gaelen Morse/Getty Images)
Ackman often issues strong opinions on political topics:
- Demanded Harvard release the names of students who are members of groups that signed a pro-terror statement in response to the recent Hamas attacks against Israel.
- Called Kyle Rittenhouse a “civic-minded patriot.”
- Advocated for a public debate on the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines.
Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
