Billionaire donors to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid are doubling down on their demands that she fire Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, considered the nation’s leading trust-buster focused on fighting monopolies in Big Tech, financial services, and other industries.
In an interview with CNBC, Barry Sternlicht — worth an estimated $3.8 billion — suggests he is open to supporting Harris based on who she chooses as her running mate. One of those prerequisites, Sternlicht said, is how committed Harris would be to firing Lina Khan.
“I think on business, we all think the FTC has lost their center,” Sternlicht said, seemingly speaking for fellow billionaires:
Some of the things they’re going after — they’re coming after some industries and real estate where like collectively we and another company own less than a tenth of one percent of the market they’re looking at our pricing. I mean, this is sort of crazy stuff … I think that woman [Lina Khan] has gone off the deep end. [Emphasis added]
Another day, another billionaire saying antitrust enforcers should be fired for investigating (probably illegal) pricing schemes.
Like fellow Junk Fee King Barry Diller (formerly of Ticketmaster), real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht doesn’t think the law should apply to him. pic.twitter.com/C5UbWO42PH
— American Economic Liberties Project (@econliberties) July 30, 2024
Similarly, Barry Diller — worth an estimated 4.4 billion — was reportedly influential in getting President Joe Biden to step aside in the presidential race, which has made way for Harris to grab the Democrat nomination, a move he supports.
Like Sternlicht, Diller has called Khan “a dope” and has demanded that Harris fire her. Diller walked back that remark but CNN has since reported that his company, IAC Inc. is actually being investigated by the FTC:
CNN on Tuesday reported that IAC Inc. — the New York-based holding company behind media giant Dotdash Meredith and home services firm Angi Inc. — is facing multiple investigations from the FTC into its subsidiaries. It’s unclear which of the dozens of brands owned by IAC are being investigated. [Emphasis added]
Most recently, in an interview with CNN, Reid Hoffman — the Democrat mega-donor who is bundling millions for Harris and is worth an estimated $2.5 billion — doubled down on his calls for Harris to fire Khan should she become president.
Hoffman tried to explain his prior comments and suggest that he does not tell politicians what to do, though CNN’s Jake Tapper noted that the FTC is currently investigating Microsoft’s deal with artificial intelligence startup Inflection.
Hoffman sits on Microsoft’s board and is the co-founder of Inflection.
“To be clear, I’ve never had a conversation with Kamala Harris about this … I don’t talk to her about [firing Lina Khan],” Hoffman said.
Wow @jaketapper asks billionaire Reid Hoffman about his big $$ donations to Kamala Harris and then his public request to fire Lina Khan, the antitrust enforcer investigating his companies. Doesn’t go well for Hoffman. pic.twitter.com/X9xPys3iIg
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 31, 2024
Hoffman also mentioned that he finds it “interesting” that Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), former President Donald Trump’s running mate, has been supportive of Khan’s work at the FTC.
“It is interesting to me that of all the Biden appointees that JD Vance is the most enthusiastic about Lina Khan and maybe that has some swing voter implications … I dislike what she’s been doing on … antitrust,” Hoffman said.
Indeed, Vance and other Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) have been dubbed “Khanservative Republicans” by the Wall Street Journal for their support of Khan’s record at the top of the FTC.
“I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job,” Vance said months ago.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
