The CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase rarely reveals his political inclinations but, when he asked on Wednesday if he’s still “barely a Democrat,” Jamie Dimon answered “no” and explained.
“My heart is Democratic but my brain is kind of Republican,” Dimon said on CNBC “Squawk Box” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The chief executive of the largest U.S. bank last revealed his political leanings in a May 2012 interview, in which he said he was “a Democrat” but only “barely.”
Before his latest disclosure, Dimon had gone through the myriad of issues he sees facing Americans. Dimon made a list of what he said the U.S. “can do better as a nation,” rather than “just yelling and screaming about other people.” Dimon said his list included “getting infrastructure done right,” “getting kids apprenticeships to get them jobs,” increasing “small business formation” and reforming policies such as immigration, infrastructure spending and taxation.
“Eight years to put a man on the Moon, 12 years to get the permits to build a bridge,” Dimon said, giving an example of how the U.S. has fallen behind in building infrastructure in the last half century.
Dimon has long been rumored to run for political office one day, but has repeatedly denied any such ambition. Last year, the CEO said he would not be running for president, despite saying that he thinks he could beat President Donald Trump in an election. He later said he regretted making that comment.
He finished by pointing to how “half the kids in inner city high schools don’t graduate,” which he called “a crisis” in the U.S.
“I don’t see people saying we’re having a national emergency and that all the people involved are getting together and saying ‘let’s do something about it,'” Dimon said.
“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, a teacher, a union member or a parent,” Dimon added. “We’re relegating generations of kids to poverty.”
