Billionaire liberal George Soros has confirmed that his younger son, Alex Soros, will be taking over his philanthropy empire.
In his first interview since he was tapped to take over the nonprofit Open Society Foundations (OSF), Alex Soros told The Wall Street Journal that he is "more political" than his father, while also saying he is concerned about the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House.
The interview came after it was reported that Alex has visited the White House more than a dozen times during Joe Biden's tenure in office. He also recently tweeted a picture of himself with Vice President Kamala Harris.
"As much as I would love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we will have to do it too," Alex said.
During the interview, Alex also urged Democratic figures to be clearer on delivering their messages, as well as being "more patriotic and inclusive" to win over voters.
"Just because someone votes Trump doesn't mean they're lost or racist," he said.
The 37-year-old added he wants to help Democrats appeal to Latino voters, as well as improve turnout among Black voters in elections.
Alex also expressed concern that free speech on college campuses is becoming too restricted. "I have some differences with my generation in regard to free speech and other things—I grew up watching Bill Maher before bed, after all," he said.
The Journal also reported how for years it was widely believed that Alex's elder half-brother, Jonathan Soros, would be the one to succeed George Soros at the OSF, but that the pair had a falling out which resulted in Jonathan leaving his father's investment business in 2011.
"We didn't get on on certain points," George Soros told The Journal. "That became evident to both of us, particularly to him, and he wanted to be out on his own."
George Soros has long been a target for Republican figures due to the billions he has donated to liberal and progressive causes via the OSF. The 92-year-old, a Jewish Hungarian immigrant who lived through the Holocaust as a child, has also frequently been the target of far-right and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
However, The Journal notes that the OSF has rarely supported Jewish causes and does not celebrate Jewish holidays. In comparison, Alex celebrates such Jewish religious holidays as Rosh Hashana and Passover.
Discussing the changeover at the top of the OSF, Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which receives OSF funding, believes that Alex "is unlikely to be the boogeyman that George Soros was for the right" going forward.
