Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist running for California governor, bankrolls a left-wing nonprofit that refers to police officers as "pigs" and has spouted anti-Semitic tropes in defense of Hamas.
Steyer's TomKat Foundation gave $10,000 to Community Movement Builders (CMB) in 2024, according to newly disclosed tax filings. Steyer's group, which typically funds climate change organizations, gave an additional $20,000 to CMB in 2021, according to tax records.
CMB, founded in Atlanta by Democratic-turned-Marxist activist Kamau Franklin, promotes "liberation" ideology for black Americans, Palestinians, and other groups. On Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, CMB organized a rally in Atlanta in "solidarity with the Palestinian struggle." In November 2023, CMB decried "the illegal occupation of Palestine by the so called 'i$raeli' occupation entity," promoting a common anti-Semitic trope about Jewish people and money.
Franklin, who has served as treasurer of Sen. Raphael Warnock's (D., Ga.) campaign, hailed Elias Rodriguez, the left-wing activist who assassinated two Israeli diplomats outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in May, as "fully justified" and "morally righteous."
CMB also promotes "Liberated Zones Theory," which aims to mobilize "the masses" to "embrace the unity and resistance struggles of African people at home and abroad." That translates into deep contempt for police officers, whom CMB refers to as "pigs" in dozens of social media posts. "Black / Afrikan Atlantans are already dealing with killer pigs as it is," states one post.
Steyer's campaign did not respond to questions about his funding for CMB.
Steyer, who is reportedly worth around $2 billion, launched his campaign in November, pledging to fix California's affordability crisis. Though he polls in the middle of a crowded Democratic field, Steyer's vast fortune could give him an advantage in a race that lacks political star power. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D.), the perennial Trump critic who was romantically involved with a Chinese spy, narrowly leads most polls at around 15 percent. Former Rep. Katie Porter (D.), whose campaign has been marred by a series of public outbursts, also polls in the double digits. Steyer is polling at around 5 percent.
Steyer, who landed a high-profile endorsement from Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has embraced far-left domestic policies before. During his ill-fated presidential run in 2020, Steyer supported reparations for slavery and an end to the cash bail system.
Though CMB bills itself as "a Black member-based collective of community residents and activists" that opposes capitalism, it is largely funded by wealthy, white Democrats.
In addition to Steyer, CMB has received donations from the charities of Google cofounder Eric Schmidt and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Schmidt's philanthropy gave $783,000 to CMB from 2021 to 2024, according to tax filings. Jobs's Waverley Street Foundation donated $1.5 million to CMB from 2022 to 2024.
CMB did not respond to a request for comment.
