Crypto CEO Who Wants to Prevent Pandemics Gave Millions to Trumpy Candidates Against COVID Restrictions

A crypto CEO who claims he’s passionate about preventing the next pandemic donated millions to Trump-backed candidates who campaigned against public health measures during the last one. Ryan Salame, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Digital Markets, told the Washington Examiner he donated $13.4 million to Republican candidates this year, focusing on candidates who would improve the government’s ability to respond to future pandemics. But three of those candidates—Rep. Ted Budd, who is running for Senate in North Carolina, Katie Britt, who is running for Senate in Alabama, and Bo Hines, who is running for the House in North Carolina—lobbied against COVID-19 restrictions in their home states in 2020 and 2021. (Budd issued a press release asking Gov. Roy Cooper to “lift all COVID restrictions immediately” in May 20201; Britt spearheaded a “Keep Alabama Open” campaign in November 2020.) Salame, meanwhile, told the Examiner that preventing future pandemics was “one of the best things that we can do for future generations.”