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Billionaires and Stealth Politics

  • Kresge Hall Room 2420 1880 Campus Drive Evanston, IL, 60208 United States (map)

In 2016, when millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump, many believed his claims that personal wealth would free him from wealthy donors and allow him to “drain the swamp.” But then Trump appointed several billionaires and multimillionaires to high-level positions and pursued billionaire-friendly policies, such as cutting corporate income taxes. Why the change from his fiery campaign rhetoric and promises to the working class? This should not be surprising, argue Benjamin I. Page and Matthew J. Lacombe: As the gap between the wealthiest and the rest of us has widened, the few who hold one billion dollars or more in net worth have begun to play a more and more active part in politics—with serious consequences for democracy in the United States. Join them as they discuss their book Billionaires and Stealth Politics. with Tony Chen of the Political Science Department at Northwestern. Cosponsored by the Northwestern University College Democrats and the Democratic Party of Evanston.