Billionaire Trump Ally Asks For ‘Peaceful Transfer of Power’ Despite Endorsing Candidate Who Tried to Overturn Election
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Bill Ackman, a billionaire who has endorsed former President Donald Trump, posted an Election Day plea for a “peaceful transfer of power” while predicting a landslide for his candidate of choice.
Seemingly forgetting that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election — which he lost to President Joe Biden — Ackman unironically wrote on Twitter/X on Tuesday that while he might be wrong about his prediction of a Trump victory, those who support the candidate who loses the election need to “accept the collective will of our democratic process.” They should also not “raise hell or otherwise revolt about the outcome.”
Approximately half the country will be unhappy about the election outcome, potentially devastatingly so. In this context, I think it is important to remember that we are one country, and we will survive whoever is our next president.
What we must avoid, however, is a world where our fellow citizens who are disappointed raise hell or otherwise revolt about the outcome. The peaceful transfer of power is a critical feature of our democracy that must be maintained for us to succeed.
Trump and his high-profile supporters, including Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, have pushed preemptive, baseless claims that the 2024 election has been rigged. Others on the right who support Trump have also claimed that if Trump loses, it will only be because of election fraud.
Ackman has been particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories. He recently pushed a debunked and facially absurd claim that ABC News gave Vice President Kamala Harris preferential treatment ahead of the presidential debate against Trump.
After the 2020 election, Trump and his campaign tried and failed to overturn the election results in several states, including schemes involving fake electors. When his legal efforts failed, Trump told his supporters in a speech on January 6, 2021 as then-Vice President Mike Pence was charged with certifying the election to “fight like hell” or else they’re “not going to have a country anymore.”
The ensuing riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters left six people dead and more than 150 police officers wounded. In the seven months that followed, four officers who were on duty that day died by suicide.
