Tom Steyer Launched “Need to Impeach” Campaign
In October, hedge fund owner Tom Steyer started a campaign to impeach Donald Trump as President of the United States. Steyer spent his own money, time, and resources to send out his message through various media platforms, and he continues to try to make the campaign even larger.
Who is Tom Steyer? Why is Tom Steyer advocating for a Donald Trump impeachment? Is he planning on running in the next election in 2020 for President of the United States? All of this and more will be answered below.
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Who Is Tom Steyer?
Tom Steyer’s full name is Thomas Fahr Steyer. He is a billionaire, philanthropist, environmentalist, and Democratic Party supporter.
Steyer was born in New York City. His mother was a teacher and his father was a partner in a New York-based law firm. Like his parents, Steyer made sure that he became well-educated. He is a graduate of Yale University, with an economics and political science degree. In addition, Steyer received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He has worked for large financial institutions, such as Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). The reason why Steyer is a billionaire, however, is his ownership stake in the hedge fund he founded, Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. At the end of 2012, the company had $18.4 billion in assets under management (AUM). (Source: “Largest Hedge Fund Managers: League Tables,” Preqin Ltd., 2013.)
After roughly three decades of running the hedge fund, Steyer stepped down to focus on his passion for advocating for alternative energy. The billionaire didn’t simply throw money into a new venture, he took action. In 2013, he founded NextGen America (formerly named NextGen Climate), an organization that fights against climate change. In 2013, he was also involved in an anti-Keystone XL pipeline rally, during which he gave a speech on the Washington Mall. (Source: “Our Story,” NextGen America, last accessed November 27, 2017.)
Steyer has not had experience working in government, but there have been rumors that he is planning to run for Governor of California in 2018. Steyer has not announced his intentions to run, but the door is still open for entry as a candidate.
In the meantime, Steyer is focusing on his goal of impeaching Trump. In October, he spent over $10.0 million on advertisements to state his opinions about Trump. (Source: “This Billionaire Is Spending More Than $10 Million Calling For Trump’s Impeachment,” Forbes, October 25, 2017.)
Why Is Steyer Focusing on an Impeachment of President Donald Trump?
Tom Steyer says that President Trump is an “urgent threat” to the country and is violating the Constitution. Steyer says that Trump has violated the U.S. Constitution with his behavior regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into the Trump election campaign’s ties to Russia, and by how Trump has dealt with his business interests while in the White House. (Source: “Tom Steyer: American people want Trump impeached because he’s an ‘urgent threat’,” Washington Examiner, November 26, 2017.)
How Is Tom Steyer Going to Impeach President Trump?
There are two options Steyer could take in order to impeach Donald Trump. The first is to run as a Democratic nominee in a California Senate or governor race and then run for President of the United States in 2020. The second option would be to skip the Senate or governor race and directly run for president.
By starting his campaign to impeach President Trump, it could mean there is a high probability that Steyer will run for the senator or governor seat in California in 2018. If Steyer does run and win, it would show that there is support for Steyer and his goal of impeaching Trump. This could snowball into getting more support around the country for his aim of impeaching President Trump.
Is this possible without a political background? Yes.
Case in point: Donald Trump was able to get elected as President of the United States without any political experience. All Trump had in regards to career experience was running private businesses, with a net worth in the billions of dollars.
Steyer is in the same boat; he became a billionaire by running his own private business. However, I would say that Steyer has a little more experience in terms of dealing with political issues. Steyer has stepped away from his business in order to spend his money and time on fighting climate change and, more recently, on his campaign to impeach Trump. He has experience speaking in front of large crowds about his political views and he has shown that he is passionate about the future of America.
