Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has received staunch criticism over how the team’s relocation situation has played out. Chances are, critics will skewer the A’s owner again after news emerged Monday. Recently, Fisher decided to financially back and endorse a controversial GOP presidential candidate. But it’s a candidate who also doesn’t have a likely shot at winning, either.
The San Francisco Gate published a report detailing that Fisher donated to GOP candidate Doug Burgum. Burgum, the Republican Governor of North Dakota, doesn’t face great odds of becoming the next President or Republican candidate. Alex Shultz tweeted that he’s currently running “a billionaire vanity campaign & polling at 0.3%.”
But that didn’t stop Fisher from making a sizable donation. In fact, according to the Gate, based on FEC records obtained, “Fisher and several members of his family recently donated the maximum amount allowed under campaign finance law to Burgum’s ultra-longshot presidential campaign.”
New: Oakland A's owner/Gap Inc heir John Fisher donated to GOP prez candidate Doug Burgum, who's running a billionaire vanity campaign & polling at 0.3%.
As ND gov, Burgum has signed some of country's most restrictive anti-trans + anti-abortion billshttps://t.co/VMa74ntLUV
— Alex Shultz (@AlexShultz) July 17, 2023
The records and the story show that Fisher and his brothers provided Burgum’s campaign with $3,300 each.
As Governor of North Dakota, Burgum signed extremely restrictive anti-transgender and anti-abortion laws. According to the Gate, they are among the most restrictive in the United States. And Burgum already signed multiple anti-trans bills into law this year.
The piece detailed that:
As the New York Times reported in early June, Burgum has signed eight anti-transgender bills in 2023 alone. He also signed a bill that effectively bans almost all abortions in the state of North Dakota; there are exceptions for rape or incest only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a period during which most people aren’t aware they’re pregnant. “After six weeks,” the Times reported, “the only exception is to prevent ‘death or a serious health risk.’”
While the Oakland A’s are nothing short of an embarrassment under Fisher’s ownership, an ownership fans want him to be rid himself of, sinking the maximum allotment for a donation to a candidate polling at 0.3 percent isn’t excellent optics, either.
