A hedge fund billionaire and longtime Hillary Clinton supporter announced Wednesday that if the Democrats take over Congress in the 2018 midterm elections this November, it may lead to stock market chaos.
“If Congress shifts, you’ll have more investigations. You’ll have more issues. And from a business standpoint, I think people will then step back,” Marc Lasry, a distressed asset investor who backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, told CNBC Wednesday.
As an investor, Lasry said he wants a “little more chaos” in the market. But as an American, the Avenue Capital Group CEO said he wants the economy to do well—emphasizing that Trump’s presidency has been a boon for American businesses and job growth.
“Congress today, they seem to be supporting pretty much anything President Trump does,” Lasry said on Squawk Box from the eighth annual CNBC and Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference in New York City. “You could argue it back and forth—but for business, it’s good.”
Lasry’s comments come as a surprise given his connections to high-profile Democrats. Former President Bill Clinton is one of his closest friends, and former President Obama considered selecting him as the U.S. ambassador to France in 2013.
Lasry withdrew his name from consideration due to his position as CEO and founder of Avenue Capital Group and “possible ties to a poker-ring scam.”
Lasry is also a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, the basketball team he and Lehman Brothers partner Wesley Edens bought from former Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) in 2014 for $550 million.