US Democratic Party funder - Tom Steyer
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2019
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Donald Trump and family revel in the pomp and circumstance of a state visit to London, his staunchest political opponents continue to plot a pathway to impeachment. Stephen Sackur interviews Tom Steyer, a Californian hedge fund billionaire turned deep-pocketed backer of liberal causes, who is funding much of that effort. His focus was climate change, now its impeachment. He’s a powerful force in the Democratic Party – but is he in danger of pushing the party in the wrong direction?
Image: Tom Steyer (Credit: Stephen Lam/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker. |
| 0:07.0 | Thanks for downloading this edition of the program. I do hope you enjoy it. |
| 0:11.4 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. My guest today is a hedge fund billionaire who's using his prodigious wealth to engineer political change |
| 0:24.4 | in the United States. At least that is Tom Steyer's intention. Making it happen is proving challenging, |
| 0:32.1 | even for this intensely driven, ferociously ambitious Californian. Stayer is a liberal, progressive Democrat. |
| 0:40.9 | Until three years ago, his political funding and his activism |
| 0:44.0 | was focused on supporting the Obama administration |
| 0:47.0 | and lobbying for action on climate change. |
| 0:50.3 | But since the 2016 presidential election, |
| 0:52.8 | his number one priority has shifted. |
| 0:55.4 | He's plowed tens of millions of dollars into a campaign to get President Trump impeached. |
| 1:02.0 | According to Steyer, the integrity and security of the United States is at stake. |
| 1:07.8 | In the wake of special counsel, Robert Mueller's inconclusive report into allegations |
| 1:13.0 | of presidential obstruction of justice, Mr. Steyer wants the Democratic Party to launch an |
| 1:18.6 | impeachment process in the U.S. Congress. But party leaders, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, |
| 1:24.8 | are resistant. Is this key Democratic Party donor in danger of pushing |
| 1:31.3 | his party in the wrong direction? Tom Steyer, welcome to Hard Talk. Stephen, thank you for having me. |
| 1:38.3 | Would it be fair to say that over the last couple of years, the impeachment of President Donald Trump has become your |
| 1:47.5 | political obsession. Well, let me say this. I started an organization called NextGen America |
| 1:55.3 | that is the largest grassroots organization, political organization in the United States, |
| 2:00.7 | which did the largest |
| 2:01.9 | youth voter mobilization in American history last year that knocked on 10 million doors with our partners |
... |
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