This banker embodies the cowardice of elites under Trump

A few days ago, Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorganChase, the largest bank in the United States, said at an international forum in Dublin, Ireland, the tax-haven capital of Europe:

“I have a lot of friends who are Democrats, and they’re idiots. I always say they have big hearts and little brains. They do not understand how the real world works. Almost every single policy rolled out failed.”

Failed? Like the Affordable Care Act? Medicare and Medicaid? Social Security? Spending on basic research and infrastructure? On protecting Americans from dread diseases? On protecting workers from death and injury on the job? On protecting the environment?

As distinct from policies rolled out by the Republicans? Such as their subsidies to Big Oil? Their racist attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion? Or Trump’s Big Ugly Bill that will take $1 trillion out of Medicaid, cause over 11 million Americans to lose their health coverage, and increase the national debt by more than $3 trillion — all to cut the taxes of the ultra-wealthy, such as Jamie Dimon?

Why do I even mention Jamie Dimon? Who cares what he thinks?

Well, many people do. He’s the business person the mainstream media turns to for his views on the economy and the direction America is heading.

For years he’s also been the darling of corporate Democrats.

Dimon was the business person Democrats turned to when they needed someone to say (as he did, truthfully) that “40 percent of Americans make less than $15 an hour [and] can’t afford a $400 bill, whether it’s medical or fixing their car,” or that “middle class incomes have been stagnant for years. Income inequality has gotten worse. More than 28 million Americans don’t have medical insurance at all.”

In those days, Dimon was a truth-teller. He also sounded like a Democrat, which he used to claim he was.

Until Donald Trump came along. Then Dimon became a dimon in the rough (sorry).

This morning after JPMorgan Chase’s second-quarter earnings exceeded forecasters’ expectations, Dimon called the economy “resilient” and opined that Trump’s policies were responsible.

“The finalization of tax reform and potential deregulation are positive for the economic outlook,” he said.

Oh, please. Trump’s cockamamie tariffs and his Big Ugly bill could cause the economy to tank within weeks. We learned today that inflation grew in June as the weight of Trump’s tariffs started to affect the economy.

But big banks and their CEOs have reaped a bonanza from high interest rates. They’ll do even better from Trump’s tax cuts and further deregulation of Wall Street.

Yet the real tragedy for America has to do with Dimon himself.

At a time in this nation’s history when our most influential business leaders need to stand up loudly and clearly — for the rule of law, for democracy, for decency, for America’s moral authority in the world, and against Donald Trump — Jamie Dimon is calling Democrats “idiots” and otherwise staying silent in the face of Trump’s cruelty and brutality.

Dimon is the quintessence of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous admonition: “The silence of the good people is more dangerous than the brutality of the bad people.”

This is how fascism takes root and spreads.

Isn’t it time we held Jamie Dimon accountable? My strong recommendation for those of you who have an account with JPMorganChase is to consider moving your money to another bank headed by someone with more integrity.

• Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com