Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson suggested Wednesday that he will be supporting President Donald Trump in 2020 because he “will take the devil” he knows.
“I will take the devil I know over the devil I don’t know any time of the week. And that seems to be what business people are confronting today,” Johnson told CNBC’s “The Squawk Box.”
When asked if that statement constituted an endorsement of the president’s reelection, Johnson replied, “I’m not endorsing anybody,” but said it was important to “know who will be pulling the levers of economic growth” while the country remains in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (RELATED: Black Entertainment Television Founder Betting On Trump To Win In 2020: ‘His To Lose’)
The multi-billionaire said Americans would be “better off” with a president who is understood rather than gamble on replacing him with someone whose decisions cannot be predicted “at such a critical time.”
He said his primary problem with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is that “I haven’t heard anything coherent out of what he said he will do.” Johnson said Tuesday night’s presidential debate did not help him make a better assessment — “particularly as it impacts black Americans.”
Johnson said even though at least 90% of the black community supports the Democratic Party, that doesn’t mean there is any “benefit of changing fortunes at this time” and said, “speaking as a business person,” he needs to anticipate what kind of presidential decisions will be made over the next four years.
“I would rather know what I’m going to deal with in the White House, I’m going to know what regulatory decisions they’re going to make, what fiscal policy decisions, what monetary policy decisions they’re going to make — than to be taking a chance, particularly with the turbulence of a pandemic … ”
President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate against former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images)
Johnson did not want to call a winner in the presidential debate, saying the whomever won the contest, the American people “lost” the opportunity to hear an informative discussion. (RELATED: BET Founder Says ‘Give Him A Chance,’ Trump Will ‘Move The Economy Forward)
“This was like a schoolyard fight over who has the best looking girlfriend. It was a waste of an hour-and-a-half that gave no guidance, no direction at all as to where the country will go after this election.”
Johnson has criticized the violence and chaos that has plagued American cities during the pandemic and ridiculed the notion that black people are “sitting around cheering” when protesters topple Confederate statues. The businessman has suggested that black Americans should receive $14 trillion in reparations for slavery.