Milwaukee Bucks co-owner and prominent Democratic supporter Marc Lasry, who caused a stir in Wisconsin for appearing with President Barack Obama during the Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign, is back in the political news touting a Hillary Clinton presidential run., the Milwaukee Business Journal said.
Lasry, in an interview with financial news channel CNBC, said he will support the former Secretary of State if she decides to seek the presidency, the report said.
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“My own personal opinion is I hope she runs and I think she will run, ” Lasry said. “We’ll all find out and I think she will probably make a decision sometime in the next three or four months.”
In response to questions from CNBC anchors, Lasry confirmed reports that he and Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation, recently discussed a fundraising strategy for Clinton’s 2016 run over lunch in the Caribbean, the Journal said.
Lasry, who is the chairman and CEO of New York City hedge fund investment firm Avenue Capital, is a friend of Hillary and Bill Clinton and was a top fundraiser for Obama. When Obama arrived at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport in November to campaign for Mary Burke, Lasry was in town and greeted the president, the report said.
Lasry’s greeting of Obama and Burke drew a rebuke from Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. The Rochester Republican criticized Lasry in a Milwaukee Business Journal interview for supporting Democrats at the same time the Bucks are expected to seek state funding for a new downtown Milwaukee arena, the Journal said.
“If you’re looking to people for support, you certainly don’t want to poke people in the eye, ” Vos told the Business Journal.
The Bucks have yet to approach the state Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker for arena funding. Meanwhile, Lasry shows no signs of shifting his political allegiance. When a CNBC co-host asked Lasry whether he would support a candidacy by Florida Republican Jeb Bush, Lasry said Bush is “a really interesting candidate.
“But at the end of the day I think Hillary is the far better candidate, ” Lasry said. “To me it’s not ‘I’m going to vote Democratic or Republican.’ I’m going to vote on who I think is the best person”, the report said.
