The demand to condemn President Donald Trump is one of the defining themes of of era.
When Trump outraged critics by refusing to adopt their version of events in Charlottesville, the call went out to even his top advisers to speak out against the president. Some gave in, some stood firm. Even celebrities far removed from politics, such as Taylor Swift, have come under pressure to renounce the president. (She has resisted the call to join #theresistance so far.)
Even Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and well-known supporter of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is apparently expected to recite the contemporary liberal catechism. You see, it’s not enough to support Trump’s opponents or be known as a political liberal. You must actually say the words condemning Trump if you want to be regarded as virtuous.
Buffet refused to go along with the demands. Interviewed on his birthday by CNBC’s Becky Quick, Buffett explained why he would not condemn the president.
“I’m not in the business of attacking any president, not do I think I should be,” Buffett said.
Buffett also offered an implicit criticism of Trump critics who seem to be attempting to forever fight the 2016 election.
“I will take a position in the 2020 campaign, the 2018 for that matter,” he said. “But I won’t say in my candidate doesn’t win, probably half the time they haven’t over the years, that I’m going to take my ball and go home.”
Buffett also brought some historical perspective to recent events.
“I’ve lived under 15 presidents, believe it or not. There have been 45 presidents in the United States and I’ve live under a third of them. And I’ve bought stocks under 14 of the 15. The first one was Hoover and I was only two when he left, so I had not gotten active at that point,” he said. “But Roosevelt was next and I bought stocks under him, even though my dad thought it was the end of the world when he was elected.”
Buffett turned 87-years-old Wednesday.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.