President Donald Trump said billionaire philanthropist George Soros “should be in jail” as he continued to threaten the 95-year-old philanthropist and Democratic mega-donor.
The president has baselessly accused the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and founder of the nonprofit Open Society Foundation of funding protesters and demonstrations against his administration.
“We’re going to look into Soros, because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people,” Trump said Friday on Fox & Friends as he referenced his demand that Soros be prosecuted for racketeering.
“Because this is more than like protests,” he said. “This is real agitation.”
In a brief phone call Saturday with NBC News, the president stood by his attack on Soros and suggested that he should be imprisoned.
“He’s a bad guy,” Trump told the outlet in brief remarks. It was not clear whether he elaborated further.
The Open Society Foundation funds progressive causes around the world, with a focus on justice, human rights and combating corruption in elections.
Soros, with his affiliated super political action committees, is also one of the biggest spenders when it comes to funding campaigns for Democratic candidates and causes, according to records with the Federal Election Commission.
In response to Trump’s latest threats, the Open Society Foundation referred to a previous statement, rebuking the accusations as “outrageous and false.”
“The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros and chaired by Alex Soros, do not support or fund violent protests,” the organization said.
“Allegations to the contrary are false, and the threats against our founder and chair are outrageous. Our mission is to advance human rights, justice, and democratic principles in the United States and around the world,” the statement added. “We stand for fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, including the rights to free speech and peaceful protest that are hallmarks of any vibrant democracy.”
Last month, the group said “we do not pay people to protest or directly train or coordinate protestors.”
“All Open Society grantees are required to comply with the law and we expect our grantees to uphold our shared commitment to human rights, dignity, and nonviolence,” the statement said. “The Open Society Foundations oppose all forms of violence, including violent protests.”
Following the killing of Charlie Kirk, Trump appeared in a video from the Oval Office and pledged to target “each and every one of those who contributed this atrocity … including the organizations that fund and support it.”
Trump previously said the liberal donor should face Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges, designed to target organized crime and famously used to break up the Mafia. Trump himself has faced RICO-like charges in Georgia, where prosecutors allege the president led a “criminal enterprise” to unlawfully overturn 2020 presidential election results in the state.
The president’s latest diatribe about Soros comes as the Department of Justice moves ahead with investigations into numerous Democratic figures and others who’ve expressed opposition to his policies.
Last month, the FBI searched the home of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser turned critic, allegedly for evidence that the veteran GOP foreign policy official had violated laws governing the handling of classified information — charges that Trump himself had also faced after leaving office.
