CNBC Survey Finds Wall Street Democrats Will Sit Things Out If Elizabeth Warren’s Their Nominee

It’s all about the Benjamins, baby—even for Wall Street bigwigs who call themselves Democrats and say they’ll sit out the election, or even wholesale back Donald Trump, if Elizabeth Warren, the big-banks-bashing senator from Massachusetts, is their party’s presidential nominee.

That’s the finding of a recent informal survey by CNBC of private equity, hedge fund and big bank executives, the class of folks that politicos, including the Democrats, depend on for big fundraising dollars.

“You’re in a box because you’re a Democrat and you’re thinking, ‘I want to help the party, but she’s going to hurt me, so I’m going to help President Trump,’” one senior private equity exec who requested anonymity for fear of Democratic Party blowback told CNBC.

As the business news network notes, Warren has long been a big critic of income inequality and the outsize compensation of many corporate barons, while the paychecks of middle- and working-class people remain stagnate. The contrast between Warren and Trump is stark, as CNBC explains:

During the campaign, Warren has put out multiple plans intended to curb the influence of Wall Street, including a wealth tax. In July, she released a proposal that would make private equity firms responsible for debts and pension obligations of companies they buy. Trump, meanwhile, has given wealthy business leaders a helping hand with a major corporate tax cut and by eliminating regulations.

Wall Street Democrats tell CNBC they just can’t afford Warren’s policies.

“They will not support her,” an executive at one of the nation’s biggest banks told the station. “It would be like shutting down their industry.”

Welp. As a wise woman (Maya Angelou) said once, “When people show you who they are, believe them.”

Or perhaps this situation is akin to another wise woman’s (Zora Neale Hurston) words: “All my skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.”

Either way, these big-dollar Dems may not have the final say in the matter when it comes to who becomes the party’s standard-bearer in the electoral battle against Donald Trump.

This week, a Quinnipiac Poll had Elizabeth Warren as the Democratic front-runner, taking the No. 1 spot from former Vice President Joe Biden, as NBC News reports. 

And while the difference is a mere 2 percentage points, the results show a major leap up for Warren, and quite a fall for Biden, as Politico explains:

Although the Massachusetts senator’s edge falls within the survey’s margin of error, Biden’s formidable lead over the rest of the field has crumbled since the last Quinnipiac national poll in August, which showed him with 32 percent support and Warren with 19 percent support.