The founders of Home Depot had harsh words for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders during an interview with Fox Business.
When the founders were asked about Bernie Sanders’s tax plan, they had nothing pleasant to say.
“Don’t bring up Bernie Sanders because that’s a red flag in front of me. He is the enemy of every entrepreneur that’s ever going to be born in the country and has been born in the past,” said Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.
Home Depot founders Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone spoke with Fox host Neil Cavuto on June 24. They were in the studio to talk about the journey of establishing the successful company on its 40th anniversary.
Marcus spoke about some of the extreme measures they went through to ensure customer satisfaction when they first started.
“I used to spend my time outside the store. When people would leave I’d say ‘What didn’t you find?’, and they’d say ‘Well you didn’t have such and such’. So I’d say ‘Give me your address. I’ll have it at your house tomorrow or tonight.’,” Marcus told Fox.
Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus: “Home Depot is the poster child for Capitalism. When I heard Bernie Sanders talking about Socialism…this could never happen in a socialized system.” pic.twitter.com/nBWRWF0hMw
— Harry Cherry (@TheHarryCherry) June 25, 2019
Marcus would then purchase the item from a competitor, take one-third off the price, and then make sure Home Depot had it in stock from then on.
“This Home Depot is probably the poster child for capitalism,” Marcus told Fox.
He then went on to speak about how socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders would hurt the success of business journeys like his if his policies were implemented in America.
“When I hear Bernie Sanders talking about socialize, this could never happen in a socialized [system], never happen,” Marcus added.
“Go to Cuba, go to Venezuela, go to Russia, go to eastern Europe. Guess what? It doesn’t work. It never works.” Home Depot founders Bernie Marcus & Ken Langone issue dire warning for @BernieSanders supporters who want socialism in America.https://t.co/9KG88FnhZD
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) June 25, 2019
Ken Langone talked about what the consequences of allowing Bernie Sanders to bring America towards socialism would do to the country.
“If the people in America today, the fellows out here with the hardhats on, if they want to know what the future holds for them following Bernie Sanders, go to Cuba, go to Venezuela, go to Russia, go to eastern Europe … guess what: It doesn’t work,” Langone told Fox.
The host then asked about an unlikely situation.
“So if [Bernie Sanders] became president, what would you guys do?” asked Cavuto.
“Me? Probably move to Australia,” Marcus said, laughing.
This year @HomeDepot founder Bernie Marcus turned 90 — and his birthday raised $117 Million for charity. Here’s what he told our podcast about why charity and giving mattered so much to him: https://t.co/3oKt3E15UR pic.twitter.com/LktOHYbUXt
— Crazy Good Turns (@CrazyGoodTurns) June 21, 2019
The Home Depot founders also talked about their contribution to popular culture.
“And by the way, we started the do-it-yourself craze in America, in America, and that was a big deal,” Marcus told Fox.
Bernie Marcus’s Philanthropy
Marcus has been involved in many philanthropic projects, the Atlanta Jewish Times reported.
While planning for Marcus’s 90th birthday celebration earlier this year, Mike Leven, the chairman and CEO of the Georgia Aquarium, spoke about some of Marcus’s major contributions.
Bernie Marcus, Co-Founder of @HomeDepot, rings The Opening Bell https://t.co/ODLNH6IoYO
— NYSE – We Are Living Tech (@NYSE) June 24, 2019
“None of the four—the Georgia Aquarium, the Grady Health System’s Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center, the Marcus Autism Center, and the SHARE Military Initiative at the Shepherd Center—would exist without Marcus,” Leven said.
The first two Home Depot stores opened in 1979 in Atlanta. Today there are over 2,200 stores across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The stores employ around 400,000 people, according to the Times.
