ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A billionaire hedge fund manager has apologized for an online post saying that a black New York state senator has “done more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood” because of her support for teachers unions.
Daniel Loeb issued a statement saying he regrets the language he used in the Facebook post about Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat. The post was an apparent reference to the white headgear of the Ku Klux Klan. It was deleted late Thursday.
Loeb, the CEO of the investment firm Third Point, is a top donor to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and many other politicians. He is a leading supporter of charter schools.
“I regret the language I used in expressing my passion for educational choice,” he said in his statement about the post, emailed to The Associated Press on Friday morning. “I apologize to Sen. Stewart-Cousins and anyone I offended.”
Cuomo and other Democrats had denounced Loeb’s comments.