JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon walked back a previous prediction that President Donald Trump would only serve one term, telling Fox Business in an interview that the Democrats don’t appear to have a particularly deep bench of contenders for the 2020 general election.
When asked by Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Friday about a comment he made suggesting Trump could be defeated after four years, Dimon said flatly that “I wish I hadn’t said it, I was talking probabilistically.”
He spoke favorably about the passage of comprehensive tax reform, and speculated that Trump could also make headway with plans for infrastructure and education. Predicting presidential candidates, he stated, is “…not my job. My job is to help get good public policy done, help the economy grow and help finance cities…I am not a political expert.”
When asked, he immediately dismissed the idea that he’d want to run for president himself, but lamented that the Democrats didn’t appear to have a pro-business, centrist candidate to run in the next general election.
Dimon is known for being a donor to Democrats, with he and his wife having donated large sums to the party’s candidates, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks political contributions.
“The thing about the Democrats is they will not have a chance, in my opinion. They don’t have a strong centrist, pro-business, pro-free enterprise person,” Dimon told Fox Business.
“The American public is not clamoring for more government. They were angry about the Great Recession, they blamed banks, they blamed Washington, but they’re also angry about the bureaucracy,” he added.
Even still, recent polls suggest the party is poised to make big strides in the 2018 midterm elections, and could retake the House of Representatives if current trends hold. An unnamed Republican strategist told the political website Axios that a flipped Congress was now “baked in” and the GOP was bracing itself for that likelihood.
In his interview, Dimon faulted both Democrats and Republicans for being unwilling to “get rid of [policy] that didn’t work,” and trying things that might.
Dimon serves on Trump’s business advisory council, but was sharply critical of the president after the events in Charlottesville, Virginia last year, where white supremacist protesters clashed with counter-demonstrators.
