[Correspondent Diary] Why Didn't Buffett Declare Support for Biden?

Obama and Clinton Publicly Support but No Endorsement for Biden
Declares No Political Remarks at Shareholders' Meeting

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. presidential election scheduled for November 3 is now just two days away. President Donald Trump is chasing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, focusing on battleground states that will decide the election outcome, making it difficult to predict the final result until the very end.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

As of the 31st (local time), Biden leads President Trump by 3.4% in battleground states according to RealClearPolitics aggregates, but his campaign remains uneasy.

Even media outlets supporting President Trump, such as CNN and The Washington Post, have reported citing the Trump camp that Latino and Black voters are not supporting Biden as much as expected.

There are also reports that Republican supporters are gathering steadily in key regions like Florida and Pennsylvania, which will sway the election results.

Of course, Biden’s camp has its own strongholds. A prime example is Wall Street. Despite the clear expectation that Biden will raise tax rates and strengthen financial regulations, Wall Street has given him substantial donations. U.S. media report that Wall Street has donated five times more to Biden than to President Trump.

Regarding this, President Trump mentioned during a TV debate that Biden received large donations from Wall Street, and said that if he did the same, he could break all fundraising records.

However, many overlook one aspect of Wall Street’s support for Biden. The legend of Wall Street and the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett, has not publicly declared his support for Biden.

Biden had expressed active support when former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ran for president. In the 2016 election, he even criticized then-candidate Trump for not disclosing his tax refund details.

CNN noted that Buffett has been surprisingly quiet in this election. CNN reported that inquiries to Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, about whom Buffett supports went unanswered. CNN also asked the Biden campaign about Buffett’s support but received no response.

Buffett had opportunities to support Biden. At the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting held via video conference last May, Buffett said, "I will not talk about politicians or politics at all."

With Buffett not publicly endorsing Biden, Biden himself stepped forward. According to CNBC, Biden said at a Wall Street fundraising event, "I just spoke with Buffett. We talked about America’s opportunity to lead the world in a way that neither he nor anyone else has done."

In fact, Buffett’s stance began to change after President Trump took office. In a 2017 interview with CNBC, Buffett said he did not want to mix business and politics, stating, "I have no intention of criticizing any president, and I think I shouldn’t."

At that time, Buffett said, "I raised funds for candidate Hillary and voted for her, but I was disappointed she lost," adding, "This country will move forward (even under President Trump)" and emphasizing, "It is important that the government works well." Buffett also mentioned that Trump "deserves respect."

After President Trump’s inauguration, Buffett’s wealth increased as stock prices surged, but this year he suffered significant losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, selling travel-related and banking stocks, which damaged his reputation. This is why interest in Buffett waned during the post-COVID-19 market rally.

However, recently, Buffett has been preparing for the post-COVID-19 era by restructuring his portfolio, including large purchases of Japanese trading company shares.

In a crisis, what matters most to Buffett is likely achieving results regardless of whether President Trump serves a second term or Biden becomes president.

This is why Buffett’s investment performance next year is attracting attention, as he refrains from political involvement and focuses on investing regardless of who becomes president.