Richard Branson, the British billionaire and founder of the Virgin Group, said he is terrified of the thought of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States because of “how dangerous it was to have somebody so vindictive in the White House.”
In an interview airing Tuesday on “Erin Burnett Outfront,” Branson said he first met Trump years ago for lunch and that Trump focused on five people who refused to help him after his company filed for bankruptcy.
Branson said Trump “spent the rest of his lunch telling me how he was going to spend the rest of his life destroying those five people,” which Branson found “very bizarre.”
Branson said he felt no choice but to speak out about the meeting to “let people who believe that Trump is wonderful know that there is a side to Trump that is dangerous and rather unpleasant and certainly unforgiving.”
“I think one day it would be wonderful to have an entrepreneur running the White House. But not this entrepreneur,” Branson said.
Branson also said that there are numerous things Trump has said that make him and other Republicans he knows “squirm.” He said he knows a lot of entrepreneurs and business leaders that one would expect to be Republican, but “with almost one voice, they are very disturbed and very frightened” at the idea of having Trump in charge.
“The unpredictability of the person I think would unsettle the markets,” he said.
The British billionaire also thinks that Trump’s campaign has hurt the Trump brand.
“I don’t think he is a great businessman,” Branson said.
Branson contended that “he’s appealing to the worst fears in people, and I would say his brand has been very badly damaged.” He said Trump won’t go hungry, but “his brand is very, very different today than it was six months ago.”
Branson said he has not spoken with Trump recently, but by speaking out, “if he gets into the White House, I’m sure I’ll be one of the many people on his list that he’ll be out to destroy.”
