Stanley Druckenmiller is one of the most famous U.S. investors in the world, accumulating much of his more than $6 billion net worth after teaming with George Soros to short the British pound in 1992. The Septuagenarian closed Duquesne Capital Management, his $12 billion hedge fund, in 2010 and returned funds to his clients.
Related: Hedge Fund legend Stanley Druckenmiller delivers hard-nosed message to investors
Since then, Druckenmiller has assumed a lower profile, though every once in a while he pops up to add his two cents about the events of the day on CNBC.
He has donated millions of dollars to right-wing politicians over the years, and on Nov. 1 he was on CNBC spouting talking points of which former President George W. Bush would be proud.
“We are spending like drunken sailors,” Druckenmiller said of the U.S. government. "Don’t forget pre-Covid ... the federal government was 20% of GDP in spending. Now it’s 25% of GDP ... My father told me if you’re in a hole, stop digging Stan.”
When asked which spending he would cut, Druckenmiller went after an old Republican favorite: entitlements, like social security and Medicaid.
“I want to go after entitlements. It’s where the money is,” he said. “This generation has got to take a cut....right now current seniors, you’re going to get 100 cents on the dollar. Future seniors looking at five or 10 cents on the dollar, is it not unreasonable for us to go to 85 or 90 cents on the dollar?”
Druckenmiller's framing is a known Republican tactic, as American people are taxed to pay for the programs mentioned. But in his next sentence, the billionaire swung to another topic: war, for which he believes that the checkbook should always be open.
“I was actually happy to see when the announcement the support for Ukraine and Israel $106 billion,” Druckenmiller said. “Do you know how much we’re gonna have to spend if Putin wins in Ukraine? It’s madness.”
Unfortunately, no one on CNBC followed up with a question on how much Druckenmiller thinks we would have to spend if millions of elderly people — who, again, had money taken out of their checks for decades in order to pay for these so called "entitlements" — were suddenly denied social security or Medicare.
But with $6 billion in the bank, Medicaid and social security is probably the last thing on his mind.
Check out the full interview here.
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