Billionaire Leon Cooperman says Bernie Sanders is a bigger threat to the world markets than the coronavirus
- Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman compared Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to the deadly disease in reference to Bernie Sanders’ economic policy
- ‘There are things that are very troubling to me. No. 1 is Bernie Sanders,’ he said
- ‘I don’t have any insight into the coronavirus, but assume that in three or four months this will become resolved,’ Cooperman said
- Sanders currently leads most national Democratic primary polls, outpacing former Vice President Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg
Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman compared Senator Bernie Sanders to the coronavirus on Tuesday and said he believes investors should be more worried about the ramifications of a Sanders presidency on the than deadly disease.
Sanders identifies himself as a democratic socialist which Cooperman believes could adversely affect the stock market.
‘I look at Bernie Sanders as a bigger threat [to the stock market] than the coronavirus,’ Cooperman said while speaking on CNBC.
‘I don’t have any insight into the coronavirus, but I assume, with all the great minds of the world focused on this problem, that in three or four months this will become resolved.’
Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman compared Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to the deadly coronavirus disease in reference to Bernie Sanders’ economic policy
But ‘there are things that are very troubling to me. No. 1 is Bernie Sanders,’ Cooperman said.
‘He is not a socialist. He is, rather, a communist. … I just hope the country isn’t ready to elect a communist or a socialist. If we do, I think the market is in store for a big problem.’
Sanders was in the lead in most national Democratic primary polls prior to Wednesday’s debate after securing a victory over Buttigieg in the New Hampshire primary last week.
‘There are things that are very troubling to me. No. 1 is Bernie Sanders,’ Cooperman said
In October, the 76-year-old billionaire said that the market would likely crash by 25% if Sanders or Senator Elizabeth Warren, won the Democratic nomination.
Cooperman got on Elizabeth Warren’s radar last October when he talked to Politico for a story about how corporate America dreads her.
‘I believe in a progressive income tax and the rich paying more,’ Cooperman told Politico. ‘But this is f***ing the American dream she is s***ting on.’
Warren shot back via Twitter, and then Cooperman sent her an open letter.
A patient with suspected coronavirus is pictured as they are transported by ambulance in Hong Kong last month
Cooperman knocked the liberal Democrat for her ‘vilification of the rich’ and said Warren has ‘demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of who I am, what I stand for, and why I believe so many of your economic policy initiatives are misguided.’
‘The world is a substantially better place because of Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, David Rubenstein, Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone,’ Cooperman said, listing the names of some of the world’s most famous billionaires.
‘This is idiocy. This is appealing to the lowest common denominator and basically trying to turn people’s heads around by basically promising a lot of free stuff. That world doesn’t exist,’ he said.
‘I’m going to give it all away, so she’s picking on the wrong guy,’ Cooperman said, before adding that Warren’s ‘wealth tax is crazy.’