T-Mobile CEO warns Dems that 'Defund the Police' message guarantees Trump's reelection
In the post, Sievert expressed sympathy with the goals of the Defund the Police movement
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert has reportedly argued in a private against the reelection of President Trump, and he has warned that Democrats risk losing in November if the party embraces a "Defund the Police" message.
In a Facebook post last week, Sievert wrote that if Democrats "want to LOSE THIS ELECTION, we should keep saying and repeating the phrase ‘Defund the Police’ and associate the phrase with our candidates," according to Politico,
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC. | 246.20 | +1.28 | +0.52% |
Sievert, who wrote the message after the unrest and at-times violent protests in Kenosha, Wis., called the rhetoric a "surefire" way to hand Trump and other congressional Republicans another term.
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T-Mobile did not respond to a FOX Business request for comment.
A long-time T-Mobile executive, Sievert succeeded John Legere as chief executive at the beginning of April, when the nation's second-largest mobile carrier completed its merger with Sprint. The deal was valued at $26 billion.
In the post, Sievert expressed sympathy with the goals of the Defund the Police movement, which garnered traction earlier this summer after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a White Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for at least eight minutes. He also said he was "aghast" at the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, by Kenosha police.
But supporting the tactic could drive away moderate voters, he said.
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“[I]f the mantra becomes ‘Defund the Police’ or worse, if we start to riot and tear down buildings or incite violence in response, the other guy wins. THE OTHER GUY WINS,” Sievert reportedly wrote in the post. “And the changes we want, and demand, don’t come about anytime soon."
Trump has tried for months to tie Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to the Defund the Police movement, which is supported by some left-leaning lawmakers such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Biden has instead called for reforms to law enforcement.
"Let's get the facts straight, I not only don't want to defund the police, I want to add $300 million to their local budgets to deal with community policing to get police and communities back together again," Biden said this week.