ST. LOUIS – Another donor to the Eric Greitens campaign has drawn more attention to the former Navy SEAL’s fundraising efforts.
Greitens received a $100,000 donation Monday from the Tiger Management Corporation’s Julian Robertson, a New York-based hedge fund manager who has been a major supporter of embryonic stem cell research. Robertson serves as a member of the Leadership Council of The New York Stem Cell Foundation (which focuses on supporting and empowering embryonic stem cell research), and he has contributed millions to finding cures with all manner of stem cells.
However, Greitens, like all of the Republican candidates for governor, has touted a pro-life platform – including an opposition to embryonic stem cell research.
Democrats were quick to focus on the dissonance between Greitens and who has become one of his top donors.
“This is just the latest instance of Eric Greitens’ willingness to fundraise from anyone, regardless of what he says to voters,” David Turner, a spokesman at the Missouri Democratic Party, said. “Frankly, we thought this was settled last year, but has Greitens had a change of heart on the issue of stem-cell research? Missouri voters deserve to know.”
The Greitens campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
This instance is not the first time a donation has landed the Greitens campaign in hot water. In March, it was discovered that Greitens’ top donor was involved in a scandal in which he allegedly kept a woman on contracted retainer purely for sexual purposes before the encounters became less consensual. The woman eventually filed a lawsuit against venture capitalist Michael Goguen, but Greitens took heat for not returning the $1 million he had received from Goguen, even though his venture capital firm’s board of directors at Sequoia Capital ousted him just days after the revelation. Ohio Gov. John Kasich also returned a donation from Goguen.
Robertson is a highly-regarded philanthropist. He serves as a member of the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Robertson Foundation offers grants to groups involved in marine conservation and limiting greenhouse gas emissions as well as the assistance towards American public schools and general global anti-poverty efforts.
Robertson had supported Kasich for president in the Republican primary, and he supported Mitt Romney in 2012.
Greitens took $25,000 from Robertson in December as well. Greitens has raised millions of dollars more than any other Republican candidate for governor, but he has faced criticism for his reliance on donors from outside the state.
