John Hanno – Page 144 – The Tarbabys Blog

Americans are still putting way too much food into landfills. Local officials seek EPA’s help

Associated Press

Americans are still putting way too much food into landfills. Local officials seek EPA’s help

Melina Walling – October 31, 2023

Shredded organic materials are piled up before being taken to a anaerobic digester at a GreenWaste Zanker Resource Recovery Facility in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. For the first time since the 1990s, the EPA updated its ranking of preferred strategies for waste reduction, ranging from preventing wasted food altogether (by not producing or buying it in the first place) to composting or anaerobic digestion, a process by which food waste can be turned into energy in the form of biogas. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A truck loaded with organic material exits a GreenWaste Zanker Resource Recovery Facility with the generators that will convert biogas into electricity at rear in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. For the first time since the 1990s, the EPA updated its ranking of preferred strategies for waste reduction, ranging from preventing wasted food altogether (by not producing or buying it in the first place) to composting or anaerobic digestion, a process by which food waste can be turned into energy in the form of biogas. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Generators that will convert biogas into electricity sit at a GreenWaste Zanker Resource Recovery Facility in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. For the first time since the 1990s, the EPA updated its ranking of preferred strategies for waste reduction, ranging from preventing wasted food altogether (by not producing or buying it in the first place) to composting or anaerobic digestion, a process by which food waste can be turned into energy in the form of biogas. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

CHICAGO (AP) — More than one-third of the food produced in the U.S. is never eaten. Much of it ends up in landfills, where it generates tons of methane that hastens climate change. That’s why more than 50 local officials signed onto a letter Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help municipal governments cut food waste in their communities.

The letter came on the heels of two recent reports from the EPA on the scope of America’s food waste problem and the damage that results from it. The local officials pressed the agency to expand grant funding and technical help for landfill alternatives. They also urged the agency to update landfill standards to require better prevention, detection and reduction of methane emissions, something scientists already have the technology to do but which can be challenging to implement since food waste breaks down and starts generating methane quickly.

Tackling food waste is a daunting challenge that the U.S. has taken on before. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA set a goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030, but the country has made little progress, said Claudia Fabiano, who works on food waste management for the EPA.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Fabiano said.

Researchers say the EPA reports provide sorely needed information. One report found that 58% of methane emissions from landfills come from food waste, a major issue because methane is responsible for about a quarter of global warming and has significantly more warming potential than carbon dioxide.

With the extent of the problem clearly defined, some elected leaders and researchers alike hope to take action. But they say it will take not just investment of resources but also a major mindset shift from the public. Farmers may need to change some practices, manufacturers will need to rethink how they package and market goods, and individuals need to find ways to keep food from going to waste.

So for the first time since the 1990s, the EPA updated its ranking of preferred strategies for waste reduction, ranging from preventing wasted food altogether (by not producing or buying it in the first place) to composting or anaerobic digestion, a process by which food waste can be turned into biogas inside a reactor. Prevention remains the top strategy, but the new ranking includes more nuances comparing the options so communities can decide how to prioritize their investments.

But reducing waste requires a big psychological change and lifestyle shift from individuals no matter what. Researchers say households are responsible for at least 40% of food waste in the U.S.

It’s a more urgent problem than ever, said Weslynne Ashton, a professor of environmental management and sustainability at the Illinois Institute of Technology who was not involved with the EPA reports. Americans have been conditioned to expect abundance at grocery stores and on their plates, and it’s expensive to pull all that food out of the waste stream.

“I think it is possible to get zero organic waste into landfills,” Ashton said. “But it means that we need an infrastructure to enable that in different locations within cities and more rural regions. It means we need incentives both for households as well as for commercial institutions.”

With the problem clearly defined and quantified, it remains to be seen whether communities and states will get extra help or guidance from the federal level — and how much change they can make either way. The EPA has recently channeled some money from the Inflation Reduction Act toward supporting recycling, which did include some funding for organics waste, but those are relatively new programs.

Some local governments have been working on this issue for a while. California began requiring every jurisdiction to provide organic waste collection services starting in 2022. But others don’t have as much of a head start. Chicago, for instance, just launched a city-wide composting pilot program two weeks ago that set up free food waste drop-off points around the city. But prospective users have to transport their food scraps themselves.

Ning Ai, an associate professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the report could be bolstered by more specific information about how different communities can adopt localized solutions, since preventing food waste might look different in rural and urban areas or in different parts of the country. But she was also impressed that the report highlighted tradeoffs of environmental impacts between air, water and land, something she said is not often as aggressively documented.

“These two reports, as well as some of the older ones, that definitely shows up as a boost to the national momentum to waste reduction,” said Ai, who was not involved with the EPA’s research.

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

SC wastes more food than any other state, new study shows. Here’s why and how much

The Island Packet

SC wastes more food than any other state, new study shows. Here’s why and how much

Sarah Claire McDonald – November 1, 2023

With the coming months bringing seasonal food fads and festive holidays, food waste has the potential to be much more prominent around this time of year.

After Cherry Digital, a communications agency, surveyed 3,200 Americans to find out how much was thrown away this past year, it was discovered that U.S. households waste about $907 worth of food annually.

Food waste comes in to Re-Soil, near Elgin, and is composted over a 15 day period.

As for South Carolina, the reported estimation was much higher than the nation’s.

Residents in households around the Palmetto State were reported to waste over $1,300 worth of food each year, according to survey data from the study.

After the findings were broken down state-by-state, the survey found that South Carolinians were the most wasteful overall, getting rid of $1,304.68 worth of food each year.

The least-wasteful state in the U.S. is West Virginia, the study states. This state’s residents reportedly only throw away $404.90 worth of their annual groceries.

Although this could in part be due to wasted leftovers, there could be another issue afoot.

The survey shows that only one-quarter of people know what the “use-by date” actually means for peak product quality.

According to the findings, the survey displayed that 30.4% of individuals believed that this date means the last date the product was edible, 22% thought that it meant that it was the last date the food product could be displayed and sold in a store and 21% believed that it meant the date that the product would be at its best flavor and quality, which is the meaning behind a “best-by date.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS), examples of commonly used phrases and their meaning include:

A “Best if Used By/Before” date indicates when a product will be of its best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date.
A “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula as described below.
A “Freeze-By” date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.

The survey also discovered that, for food wasted, 51.1% of people believe that best before dates on fruits and vegetables should be ignored as “it’s easy to tell if something has gone bad,” as detailed by its findings. The study also discovered that the foods Americans would most likely throw away are dairy products at 46.6%, 22.3% for meat, fish at 19.2%, bread at 5.1% and vegetables at 8.5%.

Discarded rotten fruit left for waste after a market.

For those who don’t want their uneaten or unused food to go to waste, your local community may have several food drives, food banks and community help centers that will take all kinds of donations, especially around the holidays.

Although there could be several others, Feeding America’s website lets its users search for nearby affiliated food banks to donate. This website can be found online at https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-food-bank.

More than 50 officials call on the EPA to help local governments cut food waste in their communities

Salon

More than 50 officials call on the EPA to help local governments cut food waste in their communities

Joy Saha – November 1, 2023

Person Throwing Pizza In Garbage Getty Images/Andrey Popov

On Tuesday, more than 50 local officials penned a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to phase out food waste disposal in landfills by 2040 to cut emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane, Reuters reported.The letter came in the wake of two reports from the EPA that spotlights America’s food waste crisis and its detrimental environmental consequences. More than one-third of the food produced in the U.S. is never consumed. Much of that waste ends up in landfills, where it generates astounding amounts of toxic methane.

Food waste causes 58% of the methane emissions that come from landfills, the EPA said in an Oct. 19 report that calculated those emissions for the first time. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA set a goal in 2015 to cut food waste in half by 2030. But very little progress has been made and the EPA has been criticized for “under-investing in the issue,” Reuters said.

“Without fast action on methane, local governments will increasingly face the impacts of warming temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather events,” the officials said in their joint letter to the agency. They also called on the EPA to update landfill standards to “require better prevention, detection and reduction of methane emissions,” per ABC News. Landfills are responsible for about 14% of U.S. methane emissions, the EPA also found. Reuters added that compared to carbon dioxide, another powerful greenhouse gas, methane is 28 times stronger over a 100-year period.

‘The Daily Show’ Gets in on THOSE Rumors About DeSantis’ Boots

Daily Beast

‘The Daily Show’ Gets in on THOSE Rumors About DeSantis’ Boots

William Vaillancourt – October 31, 2023

The Daily Show on Tuesday took a swipe at the footwear choices of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has denied that he wears lifts in his boots despite many people pointing out that something about them looks a bit strange.

After the topic came up on Fox News, former President Donald Trump posted about it, and POLITICO spoke with three shoe experts, it was guest host Charlamagne tha God’s turn.

“You know your campaign is going terribly wrong when people only want to talk about your shoes,” he said after playing a clip of the Florida governor being asked about it during a podcast appearance Monday. “‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll get to Israel-Palestine in a second. First, what the fuck is up with those boots, bro?’”

DeSantis claimed Monday that the pair shown on screen during the interview were “just standard, off-the-rack Lucchese boots.” But that hasn’t seemed to quell the chatter.

Charlamagne tha God went on to say that if DeSantis—5-foot-11, according to the 2001 Yale baseball team roster—does wear lifts, then he can’t relate to “this type of insecurity.”

“Coming at this as a short person, it’s actually the opposite for me,” he said. “I hate tall-for-no-reason-ass people. Like, why are you 6-foot-8 and not in the NBA? What a waste.”

“We need a short president anyway,” he continued. “People always talk about Napoleon complexes. Well, that guy ruled the entire continent. Abraham Lincoln was tall, and he got shot in the head. So you tell me who is more successful, OK?”

The radio host closed with a jab at the Florida governor’s feud with Disney after it spoke out against his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

“But at least now I know why DeSantis is in that huge fight with Disney: it’s not because of wokeness. It’s because you have to be this tall to ride the magic teacups,” he said, holding up his hand at chest height.

Ron DeSantis Can’t “Shoe” Away Latest Humiliating Revelation

The New Republic

Ron DeSantis Can’t “Shoe” Away Latest Humiliating Revelation

Tori Otten – October 31, 2023

Ron DeSantis was knocked back on his heels by a new allegation, and his attempts to sidestep the matter failed miserably.

The Republican presidential hopeful has for weeks sparked theories that he’s wearing lifts inside his cowboy boots to make himself appear taller. Internet users and shoe experts alike point to the bizarre fit of DeSantis’s boots and his apparent struggle to walk in them. The Florida governor’s campaign team has vehemently denied the accusations.

But DeSantis was caught flat-footed Monday during an appearance on the PBD Podcast. Host Patrick Bet-David brought up the internet’s theory and showed DeSantis some videos that internet jokesters had edited to show how they thought DeSantis was essentially standing on tiptoes in his boots.

“What are they—I don’t even—I haven’t seen that,” DeSantis said, a little too fast.

Bet-David then produced a pair of flat designer shoes, which he said he had bought for DeSantis so the governor could try them on and prove how tall he is.

“I don’t accept gifts. I can’t accept it,” DeSantis said in an awkward monotone.

If DeSantis and the 1999 Yale baseball roster are to be believed, DeSantis is 5-foot-11. It’s also understandable why he would want to appear tall at all costs. Taller candidates generally (although not always) perform better, but more importantly, DeSantis is facing off against Donald Trump. Trump loves to describe people as “little” as a form of, well, belittlement.

Unfortunately, this could be a massive missed opportunity for DeSantis. If he is shorter, he could embrace his short king status, call Trump out for body-shaming, and seek to prove that good things come in small packages. If the shoe fits, wear it, right?

Instead, whatever he’s doing is just creating an incredibly strange, clown-like effect. As menswear expert Derek Guy wrote in Politico, whether or not he has lifts in his boots, DeSantis is still wearing really terribly fitting boots. Guy spoke with three bootmaking-industry veterans, and all agreed that DeSantis’s boots are far too wide around his calves. The heels are low and the toes turn up abnormally high. The boots bulge and crease in weird places.

All of these things could be signs that DeSantis simply needs to get his feet re-measured—or that he shoved some lifts into his boots.

Ron DeSantis is wearing height-boosting boots, experts claim

The Telegraph

Ron DeSantis is wearing height-boosting boots, experts claim

Rozina Sabur – October 31, 2023

Ron DeSantis has been wearing height-boosting boots, experts claim, after Donald Trump reportedly considered nicknaming his Republican presidential rival “Tiny D”.

The Florida governor’s unusual cowboy boots have come under intense online scrutiny in recent weeks, with video analyses of their unusual shape being viewed millions of times.

Some political watchers suspected Mr DeSantis, who is thought to be 5ft 11in, of attempting to increase his height by as much as four inches.

Three experts in shoe adaptations interviewed by Politico tended to agree.

“I’ve dealt with these politicians many times. I’ve helped them with their lifts. [DeSantis] is wearing lifts, there’s no doubt,” Zephan Parker, the bootmaker behind Houston’s bespoke Parker Boot Company, told the news website.

Mr Parker said there were two key clues. The first was that Mr DeSantis appeared to have a shorter than average heel on the black cowboy boots he wore at an event in Tampa, Florida.

Ron DeSantis at an event in Atlanta — Ron DeSantis has been seen wearing a pair of black cowboy boots which appear to have a shorter than average heel – Megan Varner/Getty Images North America

Mr Parker said it suggested that the heel had been “cut down” to accommodate shoe inserts.

The second clue was that the top of the boots appeared to be pushing against his trouser legs, suggesting they were “bigger than intended, probably to accommodate his lifts”.

Mr Parker told Politico that most cowboy boots are made to fit snugly, but those adapted to accommodate shoe inserts often have to be sized-up in width which increases all the other measurements on the boot, including the opening at the top.

Another expert, Austin-based Graham Ebner, who trained at one of the country’s best bespoke cowboy bootmakers, gave a similar assessment.

“Three things stick out to me: the instep [where shoelaces usually go], the toe spring and where the ball of his foot is sitting in the boots,” he told Politico.

Mr Ebner said the boot’s pointy end was more pronounced than usual, suggesting Mr DeSantis’ toes didn’t reach to the end.

He added of one photo: “You can see where the ball of his foot is protruding on the right boot.

“It’s a good inch behind where it should be. It should not be in that position unless the heels were being lifted dramatically.”

Ron DeSantis' cowboy boots — Experts say the pointy end of the boots are more pronounced than usual – Jess Rapfogel/FR171914 AP

Mr DeSantis’ campaign has vehemently denied suggestions he is wearing shoes that boost his height.

The Florida governor told the PBD Podcast on Monday that his boots are “just standard, off-the-rack Lucchese boots”.

Meanwhile Bryan Griffin, his press secretary, derided Politico over its piece, adding: “The governor doesn’t pad his boots.”

The reports came after Mr Trump, 77, the frontrunner in the Republican 2024 primary, was rumoured to be mulling over a way to mock Mr DeSantis’ height.

The former president deployed a similar tactic against his 2016 rival Marco Rubio, referring to the 5ft2 Florida senator as “little Marco”.

Mr Trump has claimed he is 6ft 3in, although a copy of his New York driving licence lists the former president’s height at 6ft 2in.

The former president, who enjoys nicknaming his political foes, has already dubbed the 45-year-old Florida governor “DeSanctimonious”.

Reports have suggested he was considering dubbing him “Tiny D”, and Mr Trump has even shared social media posts by users speculating Mr DeSantis’ footwear was adapted.

‘Winning candidates tend to be taller’

While a candidate’s height may be considered low on the criteria for entering the White House, a 2020 analysis by Dr Timothy Judge at Ohio State University found “there is a slight tendency” for winning candidates “to be taller than their opponents”.

There are notable recent exceptions, including Joe Biden, who is at least two inches shorter than Mr Trump, whom he defeated in 2020.

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley has emerged as the leading Republican 2024 rival to Mr Trump after moving into second place in the latest Iowa poll.

The former South Carolina governor, who also served as Mr Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is now tied with Mr DeSantis on 16 per cent in the state, the first to vote in the Republican nominating contest.

However, the momentum is with Ms Haley, who was a full 10 points behind Mr DeSantis in the same poll in August.

The boost in Iowa comes weeks after a poll in New Hampshire put her in second place with 19 per cent – nine points ahead of Mr DeSantis.

Mr Trump, however, is still dominating the field according to the polls, with the support of 43 per cent of Republicans in Iowa and 49 per cent in New Hampshire.

Ms Haley’s rise has not gone unnoticed by Mr Trump, who has taken to calling his former cabinet member “birdbrain” in campaign appearances.

Kinzinger says family disowned him over loss of Hannity’s trust

The Hill

Kinzinger says family disowned him over loss of Hannity’s trust

Nick Robertson – October 31, 2023

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said he was disowned by his family after he left Congress and “lost the trust” of Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“So, I had family that sent a certified letter disowning me,” Kinzinger said in a CNN interview Monday. “They said I’ve lost the trust of great men like Sean Hannity, which is funny, but they believe that. They said I was a member of the devil’s army.”

The prominent critic of former President Trump said his decision to leave Congress over his disagreements with the GOP caused waves of death threats against himself and his family.

“You know, we had people that would call and threaten to kill my, at the time, 5-month-old child, or say they wish he would die,” he said.

The former congressman was previewing his new book, “Renegade,” which was released Tuesday.

Kinzinger also said it’s a “tough question” whether he still considers himself a Republican.

“I do, only in that because I don’t wanna give up on that fight. And this country needs two healthy parties, a healthy Democratic Party and a healthy Republican,” he said. “So I’m not gonna give up that title.”

But he committed to voting for President Biden if he faces a rematch against Trump in 2024, saying another Trump term would be “authoritarianism,” warning about the potential for a second insurrection in the style of Jan. 6, 2021.

“Because in Jan. 6, we saw the guardrails of democracy held,” Kinzinger said. “The car hit the rails. It kept you on the road. That rail can’t take two hits. And now they know what they’re doing. Now they know where the tricks are in the system.”

Adam Kinzinger Shares The Only Reason Why He Still Considers Himself A Republican

HuffPost

Adam Kinzinger Shares The Only Reason Why He Still Considers Himself A Republican

Josephine Harvey – October 31, 2023

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said he still considers himself a Republican, but only because “I don’t want to give up on that fight.”

He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday, “This country needs two healthy parties: a healthy Democratic party and a healthy Republican. So I’m not going to give up that title.”

He said he had voted Democratic in the 2022 midterms and would do the same in 2024 if it’s a Donald Trump-Joe Biden matchup.

“I really believe it’s down to one issue on the ballot,” he said. “Not taxes, not even abortion, nothing. The one issue is: Do you believe in democracy, or do you believe in authoritarianism?”

Kinzinger told the Washington Post last year that he voted for Donald Trump in 2020, but he felt “dirty” doing it, and “it’s not something I can square away in my soul fully.”

Kinzinger was one of the most prominent critics of the former president in the House Republican conference before he retired from Congress earlier this year.

He was one of two Republicans who served on the Jan. 6 committee, and one of ten who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the insurrection.

“There’s little to no desire to bridge our differences, and unity is no longer a word we use,” Kinzinger said in 2021 when he announced he would not run for reelection. “It has also become increasingly obvious that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide.”

Adam Kinzinger said onetime Trump chief of staff John Kelly ‘could barely stay awake’ during a White House breakfast and told GOP lawmakers he was ‘barely holding it together’ in the role

Business Insider

Adam Kinzinger said onetime Trump chief of staff John Kelly ‘could barely stay awake’ during a White House breakfast and told GOP lawmakers he was ‘barely holding it together’ in the role

John L. Dorman – October 31, 2023

Kinzinger in his new book wrote of how he witnessed the work that John Kelly was putting in as chief of staff.
The former GOP lawmaker said Kelly spent a lot of time trying to restrain many of Trump’s personal instincts.
“I was surprised by the level of Kelly’s distress,” he wrote. “He clearly suffered from political shell shock.”

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger said former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly was once so “exhausted” from his role that he “could barely stay awake” during a private breakfast at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Kinzinger made the revelation in his newly-released book, “Renegade,” where he spoke of the internal pressures that the retired Marine Corps general and former Homeland Security secretary faced as he sought to bring a sense of stability to a White House that was often guided more by Trump’s personal whims than the counsel of top advisors.

The former Republican lawmaker in his book detailed how Kelly arrived to the breakfast “looking gaunt and exhausted” as he intended to update five GOP lawmakers on developments in Afghanistan.

“It was 8:00 a.m. and he could barely stay awake,” Kinzinger wrote. “He told us he was trying as hard as he could but was ‘barely holding it together.'”

“I was surprised by the level of Kelly’s distress,” he continued. “He clearly suffered from political shell shock.”

Kelly served as chief of staff from July 2017 through January 2019, and Kinzinger in the book stated that the breakfast occurred sometime during the middle of the retired general’s tenure at the White House.

Kinzinger said that Kelly was intended to be a moderating force in the administration, but had to exert energy to combat Trump’s preference to trust his own judgment or the views of those fully aligned with him, which the former congressman said was a goal that Kelly pursued “in vain.”

“The problem with Trump, from a chief of staff’s perspective, was that he preferred to do everything informally and on his own with minimum staff engagement,” Kinzinger wrote. “Consequently, Kelly and others regularly discovered that Trump had considered advice from this crony or that social contact at his Mar-a-Lago resort and was serious about acting on it.”

“The work of diverting Trump’s attention away from terrible ideas and directing him to fulfill his duties obviously took all of Kelly’s energy,” he added.

In October, Kelly in a CNN statement confirmed several claims from a damning 2020 piece published by The Atlantic which alleged that Trump had called fallen US veterans “suckers” and “losers” for having died while at war.

“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said in the statement. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.'”

“A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me,'” he continued. “A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

Kelly was unrelenting in his criticism of Trump as he concluded his statement.

“A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators,” he said. “A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

“There is nothing more that can be said. God help us,” he added.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement provided by NBC News at the time said that Kelly “totally clowned himself with these debunked stories he’s made up because he didn’t serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff.”

“Belongs in Jail”: Billionaire Republican Donor Warns Against Trump

The New Republic

“Belongs in Jail”: Billionaire Republican Donor Warns Against Trump

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling – October 31, 2023

A hedge fund billionaire and GOP megadonor has a message for voters: Stay clear of Trump.

Leon Cooperman, chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, blasted the former president in a call with CNN last week, insisting that Trump cannot return to the Oval Office.

“It would be terrible for the country if Donald Trump were reelected,” Cooperman told CNN in a phone interview late last week. “He’s a divisive human being who belongs in jail.”

Trump is currently staring down 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, including 44 federal charges and 47 state charges. Trump has denied wrongdoing in all of them.

It’s not the first time that Cooperman has gone on the attack with Trump. Last year, the CEO told the PBD Podcast that he would rather take a chance with progressives than put a “would-be dictator into a second term where he has no allegiance to anybody but himself.”

Cooperman admitted he “reluctantly” voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, but he has a long history of supporting the political ambitions of right-wing candidates, including the late Senator John McCain, Senator Marco Rubio, former President George W. Bush, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to OpenSecrets.

Cooperman also said that both Biden and Trump are “bad choices,” making a long-shot prediction that neither of them will be their party’s nominee this time next year. If they reach the ballot, however, he told CNN he won’t vote.

Instead, the executive is hunting for a more centrist option. According to Federal Election Commission records, in August Cooperman donated $1,000 to the 2024 presidential campaign of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who himself has come out in full force against Trump’s candidacy.