Billionaire CA governor candidate Tom Steyer attends Sacramento ‘No Kings’ rally
At Saturday’s “No Kings” rally in Sacramento, most of the crowd’s ire was reserved for President Donald Trump, but there was still plenty left over for the nation’s billionaire class, which attendees say supports and benefits from the administration’s agenda.
“Democracy not oligarchy,” read signs carried by some protesters, who railed about both purported corruption by the Trump administration and what they viewed as a skewing of the country’s politics increasingly in favor of the ultra-wealthy.
“It’s all money, money, money, money for me, me, me, me — nothing for the people,” protester Eric Scherrer told a Sacramento Bee reporter.
Meanwhile, signature gatherers for a proposed ballot measure to levy a special tax on California billionaires to raise money for public services appeared to do a brisk trade as they worked the sprawling crowd of marchers that milled in front of the state Capitol.
So it was notable, amid such a crowd, that the only leading candidate in the California gubernatorial race who appeared to attend Saturday’s Sacramento rally was Tom Steyer, the billionaire who has spent more than $80 million of his personal wealth to propel himself into the mix of Democratic front-runners since entering the race last year.
Steyer did not join the river of people who marched across Tower Bridge from West Sacramento to the Capitol, he said in an interview, and he did not give a speech to the crowd. “No Kings” rallies have generally not given speaking time to politicians, a spokesperson with Steyer’s campaign told The Bee.
Instead, Steyer spent his time talking with attendees and expressing his own disgust with Trump, including most recently the president’s decision to join Israel in a bombing campaign against Iran.
“A king is an idiot who decides on a whim to start a war half a world away that drives up our food prices, drives up our gas prices, drives up our mortgage rates,” he said. “Being a king means stepping on the law ... hurting people and not caring.”
Steyer did talk to people at the rally about his own billionaire status, he said, continuing his pitch to voters that his vast fortune gives him the political independence to advocate for the needs of everyday Californians over those of deep-pocketed special interests.
“I’m the person (in the race) who has no conflict,” Steyer said.
Steyer has, however, sought and in some cases received the endorsements of some of the state’s more influential labor unions.
The Bee reported Friday that Steyer’s most recent tax returns included investments in private equity funds, including some based in overseas tax havens. Steyer has been critical of the industry on the campaign trail.
Steyer has pledged to give away the majority of his fortune while he is still alive.
“I’m the only billionaire on the ballot, but there’s a lot of billionaires in this race,” he said, referring to donors who have backed his political rivals. Steyer has most pointedly taken aim at tech company tycoons who have put millions into San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s campaign for governor.
Mahan attended a rally in San Jose on Saturday, according to his social media pages.
“Trump isn’t just a threat in theory — his policies are affecting Californians every single day,” Mahan posted on X. “Forcing our neighbors to live in fear. Driving up the cost of gas and groceries. We have to fight back.”
