Across the U.S., and especially in Nevada, nearly every Democratic presidential hopeful has pitched themselves as the only candidate who understands how to beat President Donald Trump in next year's general election. But for billionaire businessman-turned-political activist Tom Steyer, the race is about more than unseating the president. He told KUNR's Paul Boger that all of Washington D.C. is in need of a shake-up.
"If you look at what I've done over the last ten years, I've been working from the outside, organizing coalitions of normal American citizens to take on unchecked corporate power," Steyer says. "What I'm saying about what's going on in the United States, right now--the reason I'm running for president--is I think we have a broken government in Washington D.C. I think that it's been bought by corporations. It's a hostile corporate takeover of the American government. It isn't working for the American people. It's not a government of, by and for the people, and we need to take it back."
And while limiting corporate power in politics may be the first priority for Steyer, removing President Donald Trump is a close second. He says the president doesn't understand how to grow the U.S. economy.
"[What] I'm hearing from Democrats is that we need to beat Donald Trump and get him out of office," says Steyer. "We need someone who can take him on on the economy, and show him to be a fraud and a failure... For 30 years I was in the private sector. I started a business from scratch with no employees and one room with no windows and built it into a multi-billion international business. So, I think if there is someone who can take on Mr. Trump on the economy, and expose him as a fraud and failure as a business, and a fraud and a failure as a steward of the American economy, it's me."
Check out all of KUNR's 2020 election coverage here.
