National Security

Clinton emails: Billionaire Soros said he regretted backing Obama

George Soros, a billionaire Democratic donor, told a close Hillary Clinton ally that he regretted supporting President Obama over her in the 2008 Democratic primary, according to an email released Thursday by the State Department.  

Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden said in a May 2012 email to Clinton that Soros made the admission to her during a dinner.  

{mosads}”I told him I worked for you in the primaries and he said he’s been impressed that he can always call/meet with you on an issue of policy and said he hasn’t met with the President ever (though I thought he had),” Tanden wrote.  

“He then said he regretted his decision in the primary – he likes to admit mistakes when he makes them and that was one of them,” she added. 

“He then extolled his work with you from your time as First Lady on. You probably have heard this all before but on the off chance you haven’t, I thought I should let you know. Thanks again for doing the video!” she wrote. 

An August 2012 article in The New Yorker said Soros gave $5 million to help elect Obama in 2008, and that he later felt snubbed by the president. 

“Confidants say that, although he still supports Obama, Soros has been disappointed by him, both politically and personally,” the article said. “When Soros wanted to meet with Obama in Washington to discuss global economic problems, Obama’s staff failed to respond.” 

“Eventually, they arranged not a White House interview but, rather, a low-profile, private meeting in New York, when the President was in town for other business. Soros found this back-door treatment confounding,” the article said. 

A Soros confident told The New Yorker: “They pissed on him… He didn’t want a f-cking thing! He didn’t want a state dinner, or a White House party—he just wanted to be taken seriously.”

Tags Hillary Clinton

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.