Prominent Democratic donor George Soros said he is confident President Trump will be a “transitory phenomenon” in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Tuesday.
Soros, a Hungarian American, told Italy’s La Repubblica his prediction for the upcoming election and the country in a wide-ranging interview for his 90th birthday, according to a translation by Market Watch.
“Even in the United States, a confidence trickster like Trump can be elected president and undermine democracy from within,” he said. “But in the U.S. you have a great tradition of checks and balances and established rules. And above all you have the Constitution. So I am confident that Trump will turn out to be a transitory phenomenon, hopefully ending in November.”
But the billionaire Democratic donor warned that Trump “remains very dangerous” because “he’s fighting for his life and he will do anything to stay in power.” Soros added the president will be held responsible for violating the Constitution if he does not win reelection, according to Market Watch.
Soros also acknowledged the coronavirus pandemic in his interview, calling it “the worst crisis in my lifetime since the Second World War.”
“I would describe it as a revolutionary moment when the range of possibilities is much greater than in normal times,” he said, according to Market Watch. “What is inconceivable in normal times becomes not only possible but actually happens. People are disoriented and scared. They do things that are bad for them and for the world.”
President Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly hit Soros for his donations to Democrats, accusing him of influencing politics.
Several unfounded conspiracy theories involving Soros have been spread within right-wing circles, claiming that he funded various situations like caravans of Central American migrants heading to the U.S. ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The comments from Soros come as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden announced yesterday that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is his pick for vice president. Biden has been leading Trump in national polls the past few months, and Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight released a model calculating that the former vice president has a 71 percent chance of winning the election at this time.