Home Depot founder and former Jeb Bush-backer Bernie Marcus has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying the “fate of the nation” hangs on sending him to the White House over Hillary Clinton.
Writing for Real Clear Politics, the leading businessman said new businesses across America were being strangled by “faceless bureaucrats and politicians who erroneously believe that government ‘can do it better’.”
“I genuinely believe that if we to started The Home Depot today, we would fail because of the hurdles government, especially the current administration, places in front of small business owners,” he writes.
Obama-style government, he adds, is “driving over-regulation, over-taxation, over-litigation, and over-spending” and thus “killing small businesses, which create the majority of new jobs in America.”
“Politicians like Obama and Clinton, aided by the media and academia, have peddled a dangerous sentiment that government can provide for Americans better than the private sector. That’s not just false, it’s likely the nexus of Trump’s massively popular slogan, ‘Make America Great Again.’ We saw it first hand.”
Donald Trump, he says, is the only man who can “make America great again” by cutting red tape and changing the course of the country.
“As Americans, the choice is abundantly clear: If you want four more years of President Obama, vote for Hillary Clinton; if you want to take the country in a new direction, vote for Donald Trump.”
He also issued a warning to Republicans who refuse to back their party’s designated nominee:
“Make no mistake, Republicans who refuse to stand behind their party’s nominee are electing Clinton, whether they cast their ballots for her or not. I have a message for the #NeverTrump crowd: Enough already. Donald Trump is our presumptive nominee and it is time to get over wishing it were not so. If you don’t, change your social media hashtag to #HillaryGOP.”