Langone: ‘I feel betrayed’ by Trump inciting riot at the Capitol

Rose Weldon
Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Ken Langone of Sands Point, a longtime supporter of and donor to the Republican Party, has voiced displeasure with President Donald Trump and his incitement of rioters at the Capitol. (Photo courtesy of NYU Langone Health)

Ken Langone, the billionaire co-founder of the Home Depot and a longtime supporter of and donor to the Republican Party, has voiced displeasure with President Donald Trump and his deadly incitement of rioters at the Capitol.

A Roslyn Heights native who now lives in Sands Point after years in the Manhasset area of Flower Hill, Langone appeared as a guest on the MSCNBC program “Squawk Box” last week, telling co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin that he felt “betrayed” by Trump’s actions that led to the riot, including months of his rhetoric falsely claiming that he had won the election and a speech the same day as the riot where he implored his supporters to march on the capitol.

“I think the biggest mistake anybody is going to make is [to] try and rationalize what happened last week, what the president did, and what that crowd did,” Langone said. “There should be no mitigation at all. It was horrible. It was wrong. I’m shocked.”

He also said that he didn’t care if Trump would be impeached for his actions, but called the Republican members of Congress voting against confirming Biden’s victory, even following the riot, “a grandstand play.”

In the past, Langone, who Forbes says is worth $4.9 billion, donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign and a super PAC supporting multiple Republican candidates including U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), also praising his economic policies, though he did criticize the president for “completely mishandling” the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017.

Langone, who also serves of NYU Langone Medical Center and lent his name to the NYU Langone medical system, says Americans needed to rally behind Biden.

“I’m going to do everything I can from Day One to make sure I do my part to make Joe Biden the most successful president in the history of this country,” Langone said. “There’s a selfish reason for that, we’ve got very serious major issues in America to deal with.”

He added that “there’s a time in history where all Americans need to be a patriot, this is that time.”

“There’s going to be plenty of time, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of energy spent, to do what they have to do whether it’s to Trump, whether it’s to those senators or whatever it is,” Langone said. “At the end of the day, thank God, we’re a democracy and the voters will have the last word.”

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