GOP megadonor and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election.
“Bernie Marcus, the 94-year-old cofounder of Home Depot, has endorsed Donald Trump’s campaign for reelection, in a win for the embattled ex-president’s bid to woo back the Republican party megadonors that have abandoned him,” Forbes writes.
“I am 94 years old and like many of you, I am exhausted by politics and saddened by what I see happening to America. I had hoped it was time for me to move to the sidelines and let younger generations continue the fight to preserve America’s founding freedoms and values,” Marcus wrote in an op-ed for RealClearPolitics.
“I understand the frustration of some of my Republican friends who do not like or are offended by things Donald Trump does and says. I, too, have been frustrated at times, but we cannot let his brash style be the reason we walk away from his otherwise excellent stewardship of the United States during his first term in office. Now is the time for unity to save The American Dream for future generations,” Marcus wrote.
“For these reasons, I endorse Donald J. Trump as the nominee of the Republican Party and as our next President,” he added.
"We cannot let his brash style be the reason we walk away from his otherwise excellent stewardship of the United States during his first term in office.” https://t.co/5RnwQCogb0
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 10, 2023
One X user wrote about Bernie Marcus’ endorsement and shared a clip from the Home Depot co-founder in 2016:
At 94, Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot, breaks his silence to endorse Donald Trump, citing America’s “perilous trajectory” under current policies.
“Like many of you, I am…saddened by what I see happening to America.”
In a stark op-ed, Marcus outlines a grim picture of America’s future, marked by lawlessness, unprotected borders, and educational failures.
He lambasted Soros elected prosecutors for fostering a culture of impunity and criticizes government overreach.
Marcus, who has pledged 90% of his wealth to philanthropy, shares his American Dream story, warning that current economic policies would have stifled his success with The Home Depot.
He calls for unity across party lines to restore America’s founding freedoms and values, endorsing Trump for his “judgment, strength, decisiveness, and courage” in face of global challenges, including the new Middle East conflict and domestic issues.
“Only in America… could being without a job and broke be a great opportunity,” Marcus quotes, urging an end to divisive Republican debates and a focus on saving The American Dream.
Bernie Marcus’s endorsement comes with a plea to Americans to look beyond partisan politics and choose a path of prosperity and security, championing Trump as the leader to confront America’s adversaries and revitalize the nation’s legacy.
The clip below, from October 16, 2016, showcases Bernie Marcus’s foresight, proving just as accurate now as it was then.
WATCH:
❖ JUST IN: At 94, Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot, breaks his silence to endorse Donald Trump, citing America's "perilous trajectory" under current policies.
"Like many of you, I am…saddened by what I see happening to America."
In a stark op-ed, Marcus outlines… pic.twitter.com/vCLXtcxhfG
— Hank (@HANKonX) November 10, 2023
Marcus writes at RealClearPolitics:
I endorse him not only because he has the best chance of winning the general election but because he is the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America. The new war in the Middle East will present great challenges for the free world for some time, especially in keeping other terrorist groups or nations out of the conflict. This will require a president with the judgment, strength, decisiveness, and courage that Donald Trump displayed in his first term when he ordered the strike that killed the Iranian terrorist Gen. Qasem Soleimani and dissuaded Russia from invading Ukraine. Many, including myself, believe that Hamas would not have unleashed its barbarism and cruelty on Israel if Donald Trump was our president today. The reason is America’s enemies respect and, more importantly, fear Donald Trump’s judgment, strength, decisiveness, and courage. It is critical that America’s next leader have these attributes in the face of Hamas murdering innocent babies, old people, including Holocaust survivors, entire families; burning alive innocent people; raping women and young girls; and other unspeakable acts.
I urge my fellow Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to put their love for America above all else. I urge the Republican National Committee to end the Republican debates that only benefit ad makers and political consultants. They are unproductive and embarrassing.
Bernie Marcus endorsed Donald Trump yesterday over his former employee
It couldn’t get any worse for little Ronald pic.twitter.com/NmuRLHRuIB
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 10, 2023
The billionaire founder of Home Depot and the nonpartisan Job Creators Network announced his support for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race. https://t.co/2uC4zQQICM
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 10, 2023
Per Forbes:
His endorsement of Trump follows a disappointing election week for Republicans, in which the GOP failed in a number of key contests, as well as new polling data from the New York Times, which shows Trump ahead of President Joe Biden in a number of key swing states.
Marcus, who is worth over $8 billion and has donated tens of millions of dollars to Republican politicians and causes, had remained on the sidelines for 2024 until yesterday. “I look forward to seeing the candidate field and will much later in the political process make my decision,” he told news site Puck back in May.
In recent months, a group of GOP megadonors and billionaires urged Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive, to enter the presidential race and take on Donald Trump, according to billionaire Thomas Peterffy, the founder of Interactive Brokers. “I have spoken to Youngkin, and I have spoken to many big GOP donors. We are all enthusiastic and waiting for him to win Virginia and enter the race,” Peterffy told Forbes last week, before the election.
Marcus appears to have been among that pack. He gave $250,000 to Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC last month. All told, Forbes counted 13 billionaires who had donated over $5.9 million to Youngkin’s PAC between April and October. Following this week’s election, Youngkin suggested he would not be entering the presidential race.
Trump will be hoping other Republican billionaire donors go the way of Marcus, though there is no sign yet of a broader shift. Jeff Yass, who gave $2 million to Youngkin’s PAC last month, gave $10 million earlier this year to a super PAC seeking a Trump alternative. Ronald Lauder, another Youngkin donor ($50,000 last month) and a former Trump backer, stated a year ago that he would not be supporting Trump’s reelection bid.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Wednesday at a press conference that he’s “not going anywhere,” indicating he will not enter the 2024 presidential election.
There were rumors Youngkin would declare a presidential candidacy if he secured a GOP trifecta in Virginia Tuesday.
However, those aspirations flatlined after Democrats retained the Virginia State Senate and recaptured the Virginia House of Delegates.
Our friends at WLTReport had more on the story:
Glenn Youngkin Finally Gives Clear Answer On Running For President?