Arnold, a philanthropist with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion, has become a well-known donor in political circles over the last decade, particularly after becoming the youngest billionaire in the country at the time in 2007. Shortly after that, he and his wife pledged to donate the majority of their income to philanthropic causes, focusing much of his attention on efforts to reform criminal justice and education.
However, his efforts have prompted criticism from those in conservative circles, who accuse Arnold of using his money to “impose his far-left political preferences on Americans.”
“John Arnold is George Soros meets Tom Steyer,” an adviser to House GOP leadership told the Washington Examiner. “He is Far-Left, spending millions on socialist causes, including censorship, weakening our IP, and freeing dangerous criminals. Expect Congressional Republicans to increase their scrutiny of Arnold.”
Among Republicans’ top criticisms of Arnold is his support for bail reform in New York, as the billionaire has been publicly supportive of replacing the system with an algorithm that can offer recommendations to judges on whether to grant bail. The system predicts failure for one to appear in court for a pretrial and the likelihood of new criminal arrest while on pretrial release based on one’s age and criminal history.
That way, Arnold argued, it would maximize judges’ accuracy to permit bail while minimizing any racial disparities. Arnold has become a top donor to bail reform, even outspending Soros by millions of dollars over the last few years.
Those efforts have prompted concerns among GOP lawmakers, who argue Arnold’s proposed system would only “empower criminals” and lead to higher crime rates.
Both Arnold and his wife, Laura, have publicly spoken out about their stances on bail reform, arguing those efforts should be bipartisan.
“Judges are tasked with determining what happens to a defendant during this pretrial period,” John Arnold wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. “In most places, judges set bail. If defendants can pay, they walk free until their court dates. If they can’t pay, they remain in jail until trial. The result? Dangerous people with access to money walk out of court. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people charged with low-level offenses, disproportionately people of color, languish in city and county jails without having been convicted of a crime.”
Republicans have also raised criticisms with Arnold’s appointment to the board of Meta earlier this year, accusing the billionaire of attempting to censor conservative voices and undermine free speech ahead of the November election.
“John Arnold is a far-left radical who funded pro-criminal projects in Indiana and pro-censorship organizations nationwide,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “His board appointment should make every patriotic American nervous about Big Tech interfering in the 2024 presidential election, just like they did last cycle.”
Arnold Ventures pushed back against claims the Texas billionaire supports censorship efforts allegedly pushed by Big Tech, pointing to instances in which Arnold has supported free speech on college campuses and beyond.
“Mr. Arnold strongly believes that the bedrock principles of the First Amendment must be protected at all costs, which is one of the reasons why he supports the University of Austin (UATX), an institution dedicated to free speech on campus,” a spokesperson for Arnold Ventures told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “He has also long supported The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) since 2013 to help advance the organization’s mission to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought.”
Other conservatives have denounced Arnold’s support for election reform, particularly his support for ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates by preference, with a winner not being declared until they receive a majority of the vote.
Arnold expresses support for ranked choice voting on his philanthropic organization’s website, and he has donated millions of dollars to state efforts to implement the election method.
Republicans have decried those efforts, claiming ranked choice voting is riddled with challenges and makes elections susceptible to fraud.
“Arnold and other liberal billionaires have tried to rig elections, including in Arkansas, with the ranked choice voting scam,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said. “Americans should be skeptical and oppose these attempts from progressive billionaires to fundamentally change our representative democracy.”
Voting groups in Arkansas sought to put a ranked choice initiative on the 2020 ballot, but those efforts were shot down by the state Supreme Court. Arkansas Voters First collected $3.3 million, according to Little Rock Public Radio, with the outlet reporting most of the money came from Arnold.
Despite conservative criticism, Arnold Ventures is known for donating to both Republican and Democratic causes. According to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Arnold and his wife have donated to both sides of the aisle, such as ActBlue and WinRed, as well as several individual candidates.
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But conservatives claim Arnolds’s efforts go beyond just political donations, claiming Arnold Ventures hires individuals to develop “liberal ideas” before “orchestrating” them into government positions — and then later having them return to the organization.
Arnold Ventures has hired former government employees from both Republican and Democratic backgrounds ranging from the Obama administration to former House Speaker Paul Ryan.