If you’re one of the millions of Americans wondering how the country wound up stuck between a twice-impeached convicted felon and an increasingly frail incumbent for its next president, Ray Dalio can sympathize.
The billionaire founder of Bridgewater, the world’s fourth-largest hedge fund by lifetime returns, said the unfortunate reality is that he, along with about half of the country, wishes there was a realistic alternative to Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
“I feel like I am faced with the choice between a strong, unethical, almost fascist Republican Party and a frail, untruthful and enigmatic Democratic Party,” he wrote in a column for Time he simultaneously posted on LinkedIn. “As things now stand, there is no good presidential contender and no good party for me to choose from.”
With a lot of very interesting and important things going on, I find myself reflecting and writing more. My latest piece deals with the latest developments affecting the domestic political order.
— Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) July 9, 2024
The article looks at the issues pertaining to the Democratic Party choosing its…
The speculator, who handed over the reins at Bridgewater in 2022, had told Fortune CEO Alan Murray prior to the first primary contest in Iowa that he was already dreading a potential rematch of Trump vs Biden.
Since Dalio wrote that he respected and liked Biden, he turned his crosshairs instead toward leading Democrats who sought to hide the President’s “weak and rapidly declining condition” from the American public.
By pretending the 82-year-old had the constitution to face another four years of the most demanding and important job around when it was clear the emperor had no clothes, the party undermined trust.
“That is obviously ridiculous and an insult to people’s intelligence,” Dalio wrote, adding claims that Biden could still function most hours of the day only lead to a “terrible loss of confidence in its honesty and judgement.”
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election. And maybe win it by a landslide and take with it the Senate and the House,” Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet tells me in a very newsy interview. “I think we could lose the whole thing and it’s staggering to me.” pic.twitter.com/k0M97PntVA
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 10, 2024
Major Democratic donors, including the Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have signaled their unwillingness to fund his reelection campaign any further, comparing Biden to an elderly parent whose car keys need to be taken away from them.
‘Four months left’ to prevent a sweep in November
On Tuesday, Michael Bennet emerged as the first Senate Democrat to state publicly that Biden faced losing to his opponent in November.
Speaking to CNN, the Colorado legislator even went a step further, arguing the president’s continued candidacy could spark a landslide victory for Trump’s party and a clean sweep of the House, Senate, and presidency.
“We have four months to figure out how we’re going to save the country from Donald Trump,” he told the cable news network. “The stakes could not be higher.”
In a sign of how conflicted the party is, Bennet acknowledged he only came forward after his comments—made privately to his peers—were leaked to the press.
In Dalio’s column, the Bridgewater founder concluded the Democrats now had only three options left going forward, none of which were particularly appealing.
.@jonstewart explains where the concerns over Biden's (and Trump's) performance might be coming from…with a chart! pic.twitter.com/qY33Bd5XLK
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 9, 2024
They could either unite behind Biden in the hopes of white-knuckling it to a reelection victory and then tackling the problem afterward (“bait and switch”), hand Vice President Kamala Harris the nomination on a silver platter and drop her into the race (“coronation”), or organize a shortened contest among leading contenders to take Biden’s stead (“mini-primary”).
While the latter was Dalio’s preferred option, since it would offer Americans a choice as to who should lead the ticket, he acknowledged it would likely harm Dems’ chances of winning in November.
“I am still hoping for honest, smart, strong and ideally moderate-bipartisan Democrats (or Republicans) to step forward,” he wrote.
Until then, it looks as if neither Trump nor Biden will earn his vote—or his donation checks.