Arnold, a philanthropist with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion, has become better known as a political donor over the past decade, especially after becoming the nation’s youngest billionaire at the time in 2007. His wife pledged to donate the majority of her income to charity and focus on criminal justice and education reform.
But his efforts have drawn criticism from conservative circles, who accuse Arnold of using the money to “impose far-left political preferences on Americans.”
“John Arnold is George Soros meets Tom Steyer,” a House Republican leadership adviser told the Washington Examiner. “He is far left and has spent millions of dollars on socialist causes such as censorship, weakening intellectual property, and freeing dangerous criminals. Congressional Republicans are expected to increase scrutiny of Arnold. ”
One of the main Republican criticisms of Arnold is his support for New York bail reform. That’s because the billionaire publicly supports replacing the system with an algorithm that can recommend to judges whether to grant bail. The system predicts the likelihood of pretrial failure and new criminal arrests while on pretrial release based on age and criminal history.
Arnold argued that this would maximize the precision with which judges grant bail while minimizing racial disparities. Arnold has become the largest donor to bail reform, surpassing Soros by millions of dollars over the past few years.
The efforts have raised concerns among Republican lawmakers, who say Arnold’s proposed system would “only empower criminals” and lead to higher crime rates.
Arnold and his wife Laura have been vocal about their stance on bail reform, arguing that the effort should be bipartisan.
“Judges are tasked with determining what happens to defendants during this pretrial period,” John Arnold wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. “In most places, a judge sets bail. If the defendant can pay, he is free until his trial date. If he cannot pay, he will be held in jail until trial. Consequences? Money Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people charged with low-level crimes, especially people of color, languish in city and county jails without ever being convicted. There is.”
Republicans have also heightened criticism of Mr. Arnold’s appointment to Meta’s board earlier this year, accusing the billionaire of censoring conservative voices and restricting free speech ahead of the November election. He accused them of trying to harm him.
“John Arnold is a far-left extremist who has funded pro-crime projects in Indiana and pro-censorship groups across the country,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said in a statement. “His board appointment should make every patriotic American worry that Big Tech will interfere in the 2024 presidential election, just as it did last election cycle.”
Arnold Ventures pushes back against claims that the Texas billionaire supports censorship efforts allegedly promoted by Big Tech, saying Arnold has supported free speech on college campuses and other areas. He pointed out an example.
“Mr. Arnold strongly believes that the fundamental tenets of the First Amendment must be upheld at all costs, and this is why he is at University Austin (UATX), an institution dedicated to free speech on campus. That’s one of the reasons we support it,” said an Arnold Ventures spokesperson. he told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “He has also been a longtime supporter of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) since 2013, supporting the organization’s mission to defend and preserve the individual rights to free speech and freedom of thought for all Americans.” We have helped promote this.”
Other conservatives have criticized Mr. Arnold’s support for election reform, particularly his support for ranked-choice voting. Ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates based on their preference, and a winner is not declared until they receive a majority of votes.
Arnold has expressed support for ranked-choice voting on his charity’s website and has donated millions of dollars to state efforts to implement the voting method.
Republicans have denounced the efforts, saying ranked-choice voting is fraught with challenges and puts elections at risk of fraud.
“Arnold and other liberal billionaires are trying to rig elections with ranked-choice voting fraud, including in Arkansas,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). “Americans should be skeptical and oppose attempts by progressive billionaires to fundamentally change representative democracy.”
Voting groups in Arkansas tried to put a ranked choice initiative on the 2020 ballot, but that effort was struck down by the state Supreme Court. According to Little Rock Public Radio, Arkansas Voters First raised $3.3 million, with most of the money coming from Arnold, the station reported.
Despite conservative criticism, Arnold Ventures is known for donating to both Republicans and Democrats. According to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Arnolds have donated to both sides of the campaign, including ActBlue and WinRed, as well as multiple individual candidates.
Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner
But conservatives argue that Mr. Arnold’s efforts are more than just political donations, and that Arnold Ventures employs individuals to develop “liberal ideas” before “organizing” them into government positions. He claims that he has since been reinstated into the organization.
Arnold Ventures has hired former government officials from both Republican and Democratic backgrounds, from the Obama administration to former House Speaker Paul Ryan.
