Progressive Billionaire Tom Steyer is pushing back on the description of himself as a Democratic megadonor, claiming the label is "very misleading."
Steyer, a former hedge fund manager and environmentalist from California whose personal wealth is estimated to be $1.6 billion, made the comments during a live interview with Audie Cornish of Buzzfeed News on Sunday.
"Well the funny thing is people describe me as a 'megadonor,' but actually I think that's very misleading," Steyer said in response to Cornish using the term while introducing him to the audience.
Cornish attempted to clarify Steyer's position, especially considering he's contributed the "most money" of any individual donor "for the last three election cycles."
"You’ve given the most money for the last three cycles straight and are set to do it again, right?" Cornish asked. "The number is $110 million at this point."
Steyer attempted to defend his monetary expenditures, asserting he funds "grassroots programs" and progressive causes across the country.
"But what we really do is we run grassroots programs independently around the country," Steyer said. "So, for instance, right now we're running the largest youth voter mobilization effort in American history."
The billionaire further added the term "megadonor" implied his funds were going to "other people's campaigns," rather than causes that "engage" and "empower people."
"Donor sounds like we’re giving to other people’s campaigns, but actually what we’re trying to do is to register, engage, and empower people, particularly young people," he said.
To date this election cycle, Steyer has already spent over $30 million to underwrite candidates and causes affiliated with the Democratic Party. On Monday, Steyer announced he was increasing his investment in Democratic efforts to retake the U.S. House of Representatives this cycle by $10 million.
Steyer previously pledged to spend $110 million to ensure a Democratic would hold the speaker's gavel at the opening of the 116th Congress in January 2019.
In 2016, Steyer was the single largest individual political contributor, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That cycle, Steyer spent over $90 million in support of Democrats up and down the ballot, only to see former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lose to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party retain control of Congress.
Since Clinton's loss, Steyer has been a vocal critic of Trump, even going as far to spearhead a campaign to make impeaching the president a top issue of the coming midterm elections. The effort has irked high-ranking Democratic Party figures, like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), for demanding candidates pledge to vote for impeachment as a requisite for campaign donations.