Another Steyer ad calls for impeachment
San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer is bumping up his $20 million effort to get President Trump impeached with a new nationwide ad blasting the president and the Republican-led Congress for their proposed tax plan.
“They won’t tell you that their so-called tax reform plan is really for the wealthy and big corporations while hurting the middle class,” Steyer, wearing jeans and a work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, said in the ad shot at his Pescadero ranch. “It’s up to all of us to stand up to this president, not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed.”
The ad, which began running Thursday, is the second piece calling for Trump’s ouster. So far, Steyer has put an estimated $20 million into urging people to endorse an impeachment petition at NeedToImpeach.com. According to Steyer and his aides, about 2.3 million people have signed the online petition.
The new ad is far more personal than the first proimpeachment spot Steyer began running last month, one that prompted Trump to dub him “wacky & totally unhinged Tom Steyer” in an Oct. 27 tweet.
In the new piece, Steyer, 60, sits outdoors at his ranch and talks into the camera, recalling the 2008 financial crash.
“It turned out that the system that had benefited people like me, who are well off, was in fact stacked against everyone else. It’s why I left my investment firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good,” he said. “But here we are, nine years later, and this president and a Republican Congress are making a bad situation even worse.”
In recent years, Steyer has been one of the nation’s biggest donors to Democratic causes, giving more than $160 million to Democratic campaigns, and liberal and progressive causes, since 2014, according to the nonpartisan Open Secrets website. He put millions into the recent Virginia governor’s race, helping Democrat Ralph Northam to a surprisingly easy victory.
But his multimillion-dollar leap into the impeachment question may be a step too far for many Democratic leaders.
On ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez took pains not to endorse Steyer’s effort, although he didn’t walk away, either.
When asked by ABC’s Martha Raddatz whether he supported Steyer’s call for Trump’s impeachment or would prefer that Steyer backed off, Perez walked a narrow and careful line.
“Tom Steyer has a right to do whatever he feels he needs to do,” Perez said. “And Tom Steyer invested a lot of money in Virginia and elsewhere. And I applaud his efforts in investing, in organizing and in helping elect Democrats.”
The Republican Party’s view was a bit stronger.
“At this point, Tom Steyer should just light his money on fire,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens. “Even Democrats like Nancy Pelosi are calling his baseless ad campaign a distraction,” referring to reports that House Speaker Pelosi has said that privately.