If you wondered why one of the Clintons’ biggest backers is now holding a fundraiser for a Republican rival, presidential candidate John Kasich, here is the answer.
Kasich told Fox Business Network on Thursday that he met billionaire Ron Burkle, a longtime Clinton donor and friend, “a couple of times” and that the two “sort of connected.”
“We had a breakfast meeting and it went on for a couple of hours,” Kasich said. “We talked a little bit about politics, but we talked an awful lot about life and about a lot of his interests and my interests. … I’m fascinated by business and I love entrepreneurs and he’s one.” Kasich added that Burkle is “terrific, he’s very successful, but he’s very humble, and he’s very appealing to the way I think people ought to conduct themselves.”
Burkle, who has raised millions for the Clintons over the years, rattled a fault line between Hollywood and Washington when he told the Los Angeles Times that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has “never asked me for a penny.” (The candidate is on a fundraising spree in California today.) Burkle also said that he has decided to host a fundraiser for Kasich next month — but that he may still back Clinton in the end.