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Tom Steyer makes campaign appearance in Compton

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Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer made a campaign stop in Compton this week to participate in a tree-planting event, and to join in a discussion with Mayor Aja Brown, one day after tweeting that it “is clear that’’ President Donald Trump “is a traitor.’’

Steyer and Brown discussed Compton’s priorities, spoke with residents about their hope for national leadership, and discussed the role that small cities play in the future of the nation.

On Tuesday, Steyer tweeted “Donald Trump has hijacked our institutions, running a shadow foreign policy that benefits him and him alone. It is clear that he is a traitor. He must be impeached.’’

There was no immediate response to an email sent to Trump’s re-election campaign seeking comment.

Steyer is a former hedge fund manager who describes himself as “a self-made billionaire.’’ He stepped down as head of his investment firm in 2012 to dedicate all his time to philanthropy and political action.

Steyer founded NextGen America in 2013, a nonprofit group billed as combating climate change, promoting social justice and increasing participation in democracy through voter registration and grassroots organizing. He made a public call in 2017 to impeach President Trump and started a signature-gathering effort to support impeachment called “Need to Impeach.”

Steyer said if elected president, he would make addressing climate change his No. 1 priority.

“My administration would declare the climate crisis a national emergency on day one and will use the emergency powers of the presidency to lessen the effects of climate change,’’ Steyer said Oct. 11 in response to the outbreak of the Saddleridge Fire in Sylmar.

Steyer announced his candidacy on July 9, after ruling out a potential bid for the nomination in January.

“Corporate money has corrupted our democracy and stripped Americans of our ability to determine our own future,’’ Steyer said in the nearly four-minute video announcing his candidacy. “The only way for us to solve the urgent problems facing our country is to loosen the stranglehold that corporations have over our politicians and return political power to the American people.’’

On the day Steyer declared his candidacy, Steve Guest, the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director, said, “The only thing Steyer’s campaign will do is light more of his money on fire as he joins the rest of the 2020 Democrat field in pushing policies that are way outside the mainstream.’’

Steyer has promised that if elected, he would ask Congress to approve an annual national referendum process, and establish an office within his administration to oversee and implement that process.

The proposal would call for the president, in consultation with both the House speaker and Senate majority leader, to put forward no more than two issues annually for the American people to vote on. The referendums would be non-binding but “would put tremendous pressure on Congress to act or ignore the clear will of the people,’’ Benjamin Gerdes, the Steyer campaign’s press secretary, told City News Service.

A constitutional amendment would be required to make a national referendum binding, which Steyer “is open to pursuing at some point down the road,’’ Gerdes said.

Steyer has also proposed a term limit of 12 years in Congress, across both the House and Senate.

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