Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson on Tuesday gave an “A+” to President Donald Trump’s fiscal record and failed the Democrats for moving “too far to the left,” he said.
Johnson was also critical of the increasingly bitter political rivalry in America, which he called “very wicked and very mean.” But the Democratic Party that he has traditionally supported has become too left-wing for his opinions, he told CNBC.
BET founder Robert Johnson, flanked by U.S. President Donald Trump, Treasurer of the U.S. Jovita Carranza and White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump, delivers remarks before Trump signs an Executive Order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
“The party in my opinion, for me personally, has moved too far to the left,” Johnson said. (RELATED: BET Founder Says ‘Give Him A Chance,’ Trump Will ‘Move The Economy Forward)
Many Democratic presidential candidates have adopted radical climate change programs, pushed “Medicare for All” and touted free college education.
“And for that reason, I don’t have a particular candidate (I’m supporting) in the party at this time,” he told the network. “I think at the end of the day, if a Democrat is going to beat Trump, then that person, he or she, will have to move to the center and you can’t wait too long to do that.”
He supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 but Johnson gives “the president a lot of credit for moving the economy in a positive direction that’s benefiting a large amount of Americans,” noting that “tax cuts clearly helped stimulate the economy. I think business people have more confidence in the way the economy is going.”
President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing a bill for border funding legislation on July 1, 2019. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump may not always receive accolades for a booming American economy, but Johnson is not reluctant to do so because “if you look at the U.S. economy … you got to give the president an A+ for that.” (RELATED: 58 Percent Approve Of Trump’s Work On The Economy)
Johnson also noted that the black unemployment has hit its lowest level ever under Trump and that the prosperity is also affecting the lives of “populations that heretofore had very bad problems in terms of jobs … ”
Despite his optimism about the economy, the media mogul said the country needs to unify and just get back to the business of making a living.
“If business people are concerned about anything, it’s the clear, clear partisan politics that’s become very wicked and very mean. And that’s not helping the American people, and it’s not helping America as a global nation,” he told CNBC.
Johnson wouldn’t condemn the president’s often criticized temperament, saying that Trump has “got his own style” and that “a lot of people are not gong to like that style.” Still, “at the end of the day,” the BET founder says political leadership should not be all about personality because “the American people are looking for someone who can deliver economically and deliver on opportunities.”