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Steyer on Trump Jerusalem Embassy Move: There's Something 'Very Scary and Very Dangerous' Going On

May 23, 2018

Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer suggested on Tuesday that there was some kind of "dangerous" connection between President Donald Trump's decisions to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson's donation to the Congressional Leadership Fund.

Steyer called the decisions and the donation "very scary and very dangerous."

"It was worse than you just said. Because actually Trump walked away from the Iran treaty and moved the embassy to Jerusalem, and Sheldon Adelson gave the RNC $30 million the next day. So, there is something going on here that is very scary and very dangerous," Steyer said. The remarks were first flagged by NTK Network.

Steyer made a couple of inaccurate statements. First, the Iran nuclear deal is not a treaty. The deal was never ratified by the Senate, thus allowing Trump to unilaterally pull out from the agreement. Second, Adelson didn't make a donation to the Republican National Committee as Steyer claims.  In reality, Adelson made a donation to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a group aligned with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R., Wis.).

It is unclear exactly what Steyer meant by the comment, but he isn't the first to make it. MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle suggested Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal to "please" Adelson, a wealthy Republican donor and avid Israel supporter.

Steyer was asked why he doesn't bankroll the Democratic National Committee.

Steyer explained he no longer donates to the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) because they didn't protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

"We don’t give the money to the Democratic National Committee," Steyer said. "The reason we stopped was they swore they’d stand up for the Dreamers, and they walked away."

Steyer has been a major proponent of impeaching Trump since early on in his administration. He has donated millions of dollars to the effort even to the dismay of Democratic leaders in Congress.