Democrat Billionaire Tom Steyer To Run For President, May Announce Plans This Month

Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer, the high-profile Democrat dedicated to impeaching president Donald Trump, might announce a run for the presidency within the month.

Media reports said Steyer told his staffers he plans to announce a 2020 presidential run, something he’s teased before but not followed-up on. Steyer, however, has never definitively said he won’t run for president.

In January, Steyer said he’d set aside his presidential ambitions -- “at this time” -- to focus his time and money on impeaching Trump.

"Now the impeachment question has reached an inflection point," said Steyer at the time. "Therefore, I will be dedicating 100% of my time, effort and resources to one cause, working for Mr. Trump's impeachment and removal from office."

"I am not running for president at this time. Instead, I am strengthening my commitment to Need to Impeach in 2019 until the House starts impeachment proceedings or Mr. Trump resigns."

Steyer’s belated candidacy comes amid news Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Monday announced he was quitting his bid to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president of the United States. Swalwell’s abandonment still leaves 23 Democrats led by frontrunner, former vice president Joe Biden, in the hunt for the nomination.

Democrats last week concluded their first primary presidential debates. The second debate series is scheduled for July 30 and 31.

Steyer, 62, has long spent huge sums supporting and fundraising for Democrat candidates and their causes. He contributed heavily to the Democrat’s victorious campaign that took back the House of Representatives in the November 2018 midterm elections.

In the 2016 election cycle, Steyer spent some $65 million to back select Democratic candidates and environmental causes. He was one of former president Barack Obama's most prolific fundraisers and one of the first supporters of Hillary Clinton’s bid for president.

Asked why he invests his money in elections rather than philanthropic organizations, Steyer in 2014 said the price of inaction is too high not to take a direct role.

It’s Steyer's relentless efforts to impeach Trump that have made him among the most well-known Democrats outside of politics. In October 2017, Steyer spent $10 million for a TV ad campaign pushing Trump’s impeachment.

He now spends millions more on a digital ad campaign to impeach Trump. Steyer founded the Need to Impeach campaign in 2018 to keep-up the impeachment pressure on Trump.

In Steyer’s view, Trump "brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI and, in direct violation of the Constitution, has taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth."

Steyer has a real time net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. The magazine ranks Steyer as number 1,425 on its billionaires list for 2019.