Billionaire Activist Tom Steyer Is Unapologetic About His Ambitions to Impeach Trump
*By Christian Smith*
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer is not apologizing for his campaign to impeach Donald Trump.
In an interview with Cheddar Monday, he dismissed criticism from certain Democrats that focusing on impeachment will energize the Republican base.
"Standing up for the Constitution and the American people" should be more important than campaign tactics, he said.
But Steyer is focused on both the immediate and the political long term.
If Democrats don't take back the House of Representatives next month, "this year is a failure," he said.
Otherwise, Steyer said, the thousands of hours and millions of dollars pumped into this election cycle will have been for nothing.
"We've just got to say that and own it," he said of acknowledging the urgency of the midterms for Democrats.
According to an August report, Steyer has poured more than $120 million into this election cycle primarily through his two political groups ー the "NextGen America" super PAC and the "Need to Impeach" campaign.
Steyer's game plan is to mobilize the millions of millennials who don't normally vote in an attempt to undermine President Trump, whom Steyer calls a "corrupt, lawless, and dangerous president."
NextGen America has spent millions of dollars engaging young voters in key battleground states like Florida. Millennials traditionally haven't shown up to vote in the same numbers as other generations, but Steyer isn't fazed.
"I am confident," Steyer said when asked whether he thought millennials would turn up at the polls.
To some, Steyer's well-oiled political machine might resemble the early outline of a possible 2020 campaign.
But the former hedge fund manager reiterated that his focus rests solely on the midterms ー at least for now.
"We are nose down through Nov. 6, 2018," Steyer said.
"I think anyone who is thinking about themselves instead of doing what's right and doing the work over the next two weeks, or over the past two months, really is missing the point."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-billionaire-tom-steyer-plans-to-mobilize-his-political-machine).
Catching you up with what you need to know on Apr 1, 2022, with Ukrainians hoping to flee the besieged city of Mariupol with a ceasefire is in place, President Biden orders the release of oil from U.S.reserves, LGBT activists suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the "Don't Say Gay" Law, U.S. passports offering an "x" option for gender, and more.
America’s employers extended a streak of robust hiring in March, adding 431,000 jobs in a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a still-destructive pandemic and the highest inflation in 40 years.
Progress for the LGBTQ community was made last week when Andi Mudryk, a long-time disability advocate, became the first openly transgender person appointed to the bench in California. Chris Johnson, White House reporter for the Washington Blade, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
President Biden proposed a new billionaire’s tax, that would subject the richest Americans to a minimum tax rate of 20 percent. The White House says billionaires pay an average tax rate of just eight percent, much lower than the national average of 22 percent. Cheddar News speaks with ProPublica’s Paul Kiel who explains how the regulation would work.
The most popular and most valuable cryptocurrency is also the least eco-friendly - data shows that Bitcoin mining generates the same amount of carbon emissions as the entire country of Thailand. According to nonprofit Fair Planet, 96 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions come from Bitcoin mining every year. Now, a consortium of climate activist groups is calling on the Bitcoin industry to cut its energy use by making changes to its software code. Michael Brune, former executive director of the Sierra Club, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Imani Gandy, senior editor for law and policy at Rewire News Group, and co-host of the podcast Boom! Lawyered, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss Ketanji Brown Jackson's upcoming confirmation hearings, and the politics surrounding several Republican attack lines against her in the lead-up.
Susannah Wellford, founder and CEO of Running Start, joins Cheddar News to discuss getting more women involved in politics. Running Start helps provide women and girls the tools they need to get involved in politics, and to see a future where they can become political leaders.
Congressional candidate Melanie D'Arrigo came on Cheddar Politics to talk about her campaign for the Democratic nomination in New York's Third Congressional district. The progressive activist ran in the 2020 primary against incumbent Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. The seat is open this time, as Suozzi seeks the New York Governorship.
Reecie Colbert, founder of Black Women Views Media, breaks down the roles of race and partisanship in the Senate hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She also discusses the importance of standing up for Black women in the public sphere.
