Billionaire Democratic donor: Bernie Sanders is a 'disaster zone'

[Vegas Roller]

Billionaire Democratic donor Haim Saban praised the party's presidential candidates before slamming Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as a "disaster zone" in an interview published Wednesday.

"We love all 23 candidates," Saban told The Hollywood Reporter.

"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, a media mogul, and his wife, Cheryl Saban, donate millions to political candidates, according to The Hollywood Reporter.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/452424-billionaire-dem-donor-bernie-sanders-is-a-disaster-zone

[Demsrule86]

1. Ouch....

[Bradshaw3]

22. I'm sure this really hurt Bernie

[Demsrule86]

23. I doubt it but it shows...that they don't think he can win or they wouldn't have said it.

[Bradshaw3]

25. One billionaire speaks for whom?

I think mililons of donors who contribute what they can means more than one billionaire spouting off. But, hey, I'm a Democrat.

[Demsrule86]

28. Probably all of them...doubt Bernie is popular with them...but who cares.

[Amimnoch]

48. Not a billionaire.. or even a millionaire, but 100% agree with him. -nt

[rampartc]

53. the billionaire donors don't care if we win

or, more specifically, they don't care who wins as long as nothing changes.

they are afraid that Bernie might actually address a few of the concerns of the poor and working class.

[Demsrule86]

60. Of course they do...they have their favorites too...and not always self interest either...although

some of that for sure. Sanders vision would not help the poor or working class in my opinion.

[guillaumeb]

2. The poor oppressed billionaire. eom

[JoeOtterbein]

3. + 1 and...

...Bernie just said loud and clear he welcomes their hate.

Bernie is correct on this one 100%.

[guillaumeb]

5. The billionaires are accustomed to being catered to.

And buying influence. In a sane alternative, a top marginal tax rate like that in FDR's time would eliminate the billionaire class.

[JoeOtterbein]

9. Yes! The billion boys love them some malleable politicians.

Why are any of us, ok with the big donors calling the shots on the biggest has always escaped me!

Except money. of course.

[elleng]

15. Yes.

Sounds like FDR, right?

[Control-Z]

44. Isn't he quoting/copying FDR? eom

[Vegas Roller]

58. That is a copy of Hillary Clinton's Love Trumps Hate. n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

36. Seriously!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[tishaLA]

4. Not that I necessarily disagree with him re: the junior senator from VT

but Mr Saban is a fine philanthropist but a zealot on par with Adelson when it comes to Israel. His hatred of BS is almost undoubtedly related to that.

[guillaumeb]

6. Interesting. eom

[tishaLA]

11. I remember when he had a huge fundraiser about 5 years ago for the IDF

and all the big liberal machers were there, from Streisand to Spielberg and back again. I love most of them, but lost a bit of respect for them for going to that fundraiser.

[rpannier]

37. He's a cheap S.O.B.

Ask people who have worked on his shows
Want a raise - you're fired. The original cast never got residuals
He tries like hell not to have unions do any of his shows.
After the '94 Northridge earthquake it was insisted the actors come into work the next day. 6.7 earthquake, 50+ people dead, power outages everywhere and the actors are called in to work. The crew didn't show, so filming was cancelled

The guy is a jerk

[aikoaiko]

7. That's rich.

[Princetonian]

8. Saban must be nursing grudges from the 2016 primaries when he supported Hillary.

He should thank Bernie for bringing so much of the youth vote to the party.

[JoeOtterbein]

12. Great response! nt

[pnwmom]

32. I would feel more grateful to Bernie if he hadn't brought many of those youth

to the convention, hoping against hope that their protests would cause the delegates to switch to him.

I'd feel more grateful if he'd conceded once his winning was mathematically impossible, and campaigned for Hillary in June, July, and August. (He didn't.)

I'd feel more grateful if he'd done more than 2 events in September.

I'd feel more grateful if I was certain he'd be a stronger supporter of the winner this around, even if it isn't Bernie.

[jcgoldie]

40. Nailed it

Truth will set you free.

[lunamagica]

42. Well said, Pnwmom. + a million

[Beakybird]

54. Amen 1,000,000 times!

[Demsrule86]

61. Absolutely...everything you say is true.

[DrToast]

67. Mic drop!

[proud patriot]

10. his interview on rachel

was awesome ..

[JoeOtterbein]

13. +1

I was wowed at how quick and clear his answers were. Very impressive.

[elleng]

16. Yes.

[tishaLA]

14. Interesting. I found it exactly

the opposite....like kinda desperate and undisciplined. What did you enjoy about it?

[proud patriot]

69. I felt he was clear and strong

the questions were just as important ..

my Dad and others on the left haven't like Rachel since 2016
and they were expecting a hit job .. there is no way this interview
could be interpreted as a hit job ..

[FailureToCommunicate]

18. I was surprised by how clear he can be when he is not shouting and thumping

a podium.

His answer about "older candidates" made sense.

[tishaLA]

24. You mean when he compared the plight of older candidates to

the plight of women and African Americans seeking office? That made sense to you? Because to me it trivialized the significant structural hurdles people in those groups have to overcome to succeed.

[Autumn]

63. It wasn't a comparison. But you go with that.

[RainCaster]

21. I'm not impressed

Bernie has great ideas, but he never talks about involving the rest of the DNC. He has the mindset of the lone wolf, and for that reason, he won't get anything done

[ancianita]

29. Never? I know of many instances when he has. AOC is one.

[ancianita]

30. Me, too. And I was reminded that that's how he's always been.

[proud patriot]

68. how I feel exactly

[betsuni]

46. He said that in a debate (Anderson Cooper moderated) that "people kinda laughed"

when he said that climate change is the country's biggest national security risk. This isn't true.

[shanny]

17. poor widdle billionaire

his fee fees are hurt

[BeyondGeography]

19. Poor little rich guy who will never hear cheers like this

[Nanjeanne]

20. If Saban hates Sanders I'm more than ever convinced I made the right choice.

[elleng]

27. Thinking the way you are,

along with Senator Warren.

[rpannier]

38. Saban in a twit, a cheap jerk and some things I won't say

My primary vote in 2016 was well placed.
Sanders still sits in my top 4, though Warren is first

[Nanjeanne]

50. And Warren is my second. Good luck to us!

[yaesu]

26. how cares what mr. money pockets thinks? I sure don't. nt

[George II]

31. Wonder why the "millionaire and billionaire class" has been reduced to just the "billionaire class"?

[Control-Z]

47. I wrote a response to your post

that probably would have gotten me alerted on. So I deleted it.

You are free, however, to use your imagination! Lol.

[NYMinute]

33. I respect Mr. Saban and what he is saying

He is a staunch progressive and his criticism of Senator BS is valid.

Let's not forget the Mr. Saban's contributions help elect a lot of Democrats nationwide. We need people like him who help elect Democrats.

[rpannier]

39. How is he a solid progressive?

He screwed his actors
He's anti-union
What makes him a progressive?

[Vegas Roller]

59. I said progressive, not puritopian. n/t

[Autumn]

64. He's anti-union? It's okay. He hates Bernie. Did he screw his actors? It's okay. He hates Bernie

He hates Bernie and that's all that matters.

[betsuni]

34. This is not an unusual opinion. The cat's out of the bag.

[Vegas Roller]

35. I find it amusing that the only pushback against Saban's opinions

is that "he is a billionaire."

As though his criticism would be valid and respected if he were an average guy.


The pushback proves Mr. Saban's point that all billionaires are lumped together and demonized for a political agenda.

[rpannier]

41. If you want to know why he's a jerk, a twit and an a$$hat

Ask Walter Jones, Thuy Trang, Audrey DuBois, Austin St John, etc

His shows dis not (and he still tries to not use) union actors
He is anti-union
None of the original cast got residuals when they left the show
Those who asked for a raise were fired
The cast was expected to work the day after the Northridge Earthquake
His opinions are of a cheap person who looks out for himself

[floppyboo]

43. Saban is a rabid Zionist - that's why he sank Ellison's bid for DNC chair

Last edited Thu Jul 11, 2019, 01:26 AM - Edit history (2)

and why he hates Bernie. Don't touch the 'settlements' is what this is really about.
Edit: From an interview with Saban NYT 2004 https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/business/yourmoney/schlepping-to-moguldom.html

"I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel," he said in his first extensive interview in years.

To that end, he has become one of the largest individual donors in the country to the Democratic Party and its candidates, giving millions over the past decade -- $7 million in just one donation to the Democratic National Committee in 2002. He recently had Senator John Kerry over to his chateau-style home in Beverly Hills. ("We played guitar and kibitzed," he said.) He regularly spends hours at a time on the phone with Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. He vacations with Bill Clinton.

Talk about your foreign interference in elections.

[Turin_C3PO]

45. Pffftt..

I don’t like Sanders but I could give a fuck what an entitled billionaire asshole has to think about progressive policies. Big surprise, he doesn’t like leftist ideas.

[RandiFan1290]

49. Proof that Bernie is on the right track!

We can't wait to vote FOR Bernie again!

[NYMinute]

66. Right Track

Going from 43% to 12% after continuously campaigning for 4 years.

[IronLionZion]

51. Bernie boasts of his anti-endorsements

since it's billionaires and corporate third way types

[Gothmog]

52. Saban is a major Democratic supporter

[SouthernProgressive]

55. He is on the right side.

Good on him for supporting our candidates.

[PoliticAverse]

56. Bernie Sanders is proud to list Haim Saban as an 'anti-endorsement'

WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders’s campaign says he is proud not to include Haim Saban as a backer of his presidential bid.

The Sanders campaign put the pro-Israel entertainment mogul and major Democratic Party funder first on a list of 13 “anti-endorsements” — that is, public figures whose support Sanders either doesn’t want or isn’t getting.

“Bernie Sanders asks to also be judged by those who oppose his policies and the progressive movement,” said a statement Wednesday from the presidential campaign of the Vermont senator.

“Saban is a billionaire that has spent millions of dollars buying elections for his candidates. He called on the United States to bomb Iran in 2014, criticized President Obama’s attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, and attacked senators for urging humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the list says.

https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Bernie-Sanders-is-proud-to-list-Haim-Saban-as-an-anti-endorsement-595292

[theaocp]

57. Who would Daddy Warbucks prefer?

Perhaps one who won't fundamentally change anything? That would be unsurprising for his bottom line.

[Autumn]

62. I don't have a problem with this at all. I welcome their hatred.

I support Bernie on the basis of the hatred people like this guy and others have for him. It proves that just like Trump, they fear his ideas and think only of their bottom line and what benefits them.

Hate on

[NurseJackie]

65. Thank you!