September 28, 2016 | No Comments
Chalk up another billionaire’s endorsement for Hillary Clinton.
America Online co-founder Steve Case publicly endorsed the Democratic nominee in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Wednesday, writing that she “represents the best choice for the United States — and our best hope to remain the most innovative and entrepreneurial nation in the world.”
Case — who has a net worth of 1.31 billion according to a 2016 assessment by Forbes — joins a still-growing list of millionaires and billionaires who have thrown their hat in the ring in favor of the former secretary of state. Clinton also boasts the support of Hewlett Packard executive Meg Whitman, Dallas Mavericks owner Marc Cuban, investing guru Warren Buffett and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among others.
Citing the economy, immigration, technological advancement, and deficit control, Case — a lifelong entrepreneur and innovator — described Clinton as the clear choice over Trump to put American on a continued path toward economic and technological advancement.
“I think she’d be better for our economy, especially with respect to innovative technology and start-ups,” he wrote. “Donald Trump knows business, but his campaign has been backward-looking on the economy and oddly absent of ideas to spur creation of the jobs of the future. Clinton understands what we need to help start businesses and will invest in education, advanced manufacturing and basic research.”
While conceding that he takes “issue with some aspects of her platform” and arguing that she “too often view[s] the government as the solution to problems,” Case still saw Clinton as better equipped to deal with the challenges facing the country. The AOL executive went on to acknowledge that while he understands how Trump has mustered so much political momentum in this year’s election, he did not see him as the answer to America’s problems.
“I think I get why Trump has been such a potent political force this year. I am well aware that millions of people are angry about their prospects and fearful that the forces of globalization and digitization have left them behind. I also recognize many are frustrated by politics and feel we need an outsider to shake things up,” he wrote. “But I don’t think Trump is the answer.”
The endorsement surfaces as the Trump campaign has made a renewed push to cast Clinton as beholden to special interests and major donors in a blitz of press releases of videos and press releases that are meant to stress “renewed focus on populist themes in battleground states,” according to a source close to the campaign.
“Everything you need to know about Hillary Clinton can be understood by this simple phrase: follow the money,” Trump said at an Iowa rally earlier Wednesday.