Soros Targets Bush

This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, November 13, 2003, that has been edited for clarity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SOROS: I feel that President Bush has led the country in the wrong direction. And I think the people in this country have been misled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, GUEST HOST: That was billionaire George Soros (search) who says he wakes up in the middle of the night angry about George W. Bush. Heather Nauert is looking into what Soros plans to do about it.

HEATHER NAUERT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, it's sort of a funny story here. Well, George Soros says defeating President Bush in the 2004 election is a matter of life and death for him. Literally, that's what he said. Specifically he says that, quote, "this is the central focus of his life." So, now he's decided to give tens of millions of dollars to liberal activist groups.

Joining me from Phoenix is political writer C.K. Riordan for today's big question. C.K., why is George Soros putting out a financial hit on President Bush?

C.K. RAIRDEN, POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Well, Heather, it's gotten pretty obvious that it is the central focus of his life. His hatred for George W. Bush as being president of the United states has taken over his life. And he's going to go ahead and give us much of his fortune as he feels he needs to help these Democratic groups to try and defeat the president.

NAUERT: What really got him to that point, because he is known for having done some good things in the past. Specifically, he promoted democracy in the former Soviet Union. He gave, I think, $5 billion towards that effort. But what made him turn the corner?

RAIRDEN: Yes, he certainly did. He has been a philanthropist for some time now. I think from what I have been told it's hatred for the neo-conservative, from what he says, taking over and having way too much influence in American politics. And he sees George W. Bush as the leader of that.

NAUERT: OK. I want to read some of the quotes that he's recently said for folks who have not actually followed closely some of the things he said. He has , "America under Bush is a danger to the world." He said, "A supremacist ideology guides the White House." And he has also said, "When I hear Bush say you are either with us or you are against us it reminds me of the Germans." Now that last comment, of course, is particularly biting because he is from a Jewish family that escaped Hungary during World War II. Some of the stuff he is saying is pretty rabid.

RAIRDEN: Yes, he's out there on the fringe. There is no question about it. And I think that's why he has sought out groups like Act and also like moveon.org to give this money to. And, you know, the McCain-Feingold Act that was passed into law -- and that's what it's done, it's left a huge hole, a hole big enough to drive a Mac truck through, and Soros is behind the wheel. And he pretty much has got the truck loaded with cash. And he is ready to take it to these Democratic activist groups. And he's driven by the hatred he has for what he calls the neo-conservatives and for George W. Bush.

NAUERT: Now he is worth about $7 billion and, at one point, he said that he would hope to give away virtually all of his money by the year 2010, $10 million so far. Excuse me. He's given away about $30 million, I think, so far just in terms of politics in Washington. What kind of sway does he actually have over Democrats now?

RAIRDEN: Well, one would think, I mean, the Democratic parties for lease or for rent, or at least possibly for sale at this point. I don't know, once a man gives you that much money and you know how it is around Washington, when you throw that much money around, no matter if it is going to be for positive or for negative, he's going to have influence. There is no question about that. And I think that's where the Democrats are going to go off the cliff here. They are going to take the party farther to the left with people like George Soros and groups like ACT and groups like moveon.org. They are going to drag the Democratic Party over to the left. And they are going to kind of leave the moderate Democrats and independent-thinking Democrats with a void, and that may backfire on them. This may be a boondoggle and it may cost the left-leaning Democrats.

NAUERT: And possibly causing George Bush to win the election, which is actually what Soros doesn't want to do and could end up flushing a bunch of Soros' money down the drain.

RAIRDEN: Right.

NAUERT: Why does he actually think that Americans will listen to him? Yes, OK, he is a billionaire, he is worth $7 billion. Obviously, he has some smarts. But why should we care, why should people care what he has to say?

RAIRDEN: You know, I don't know. All of these far-left activists have lost so often here lately in the polls. They are just not capturing the minds of the American people. But he does have a lot of money and he is willing to try this. And I think he is just -- I think he also is pouring it down a black hole. I mean, moveon.org has been rarely successful in their endeavors. And this ACT, Americans Coming Together, is a new group. But if they are going to follow the same path, I don't see how that can bring in anybody that's not already to the far left. It is going to give the far left somewhere to go ,and it is going to get them rolling as hard as they can and fire them up. But it will not bring over independent Democrats.

NAUERT: OK. C.K. Riarden, joining us from Phoenix. Thank you so much.

Of course, these groups have a right to free speech, just like any of us. But Soros is also trying to get his wealthy friends to contribute millions of dollars to his cause. And he is also trying to sell his views on foreign aid and security in a new book. Now overall, he refers to his beliefs as, quote, "The Soros Doctrine."

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