Two top donors to Jeb Bush's Right to Rise super PAC are emigres from Iran and Cuba, areas of foreign policy where Bush differs sharply with President Barack Obama,
the Guardian reports.
Citing
campaign finance disclosures, the Guardian notes Mike Fernandez, a Florida-based private equity billionaire who moved from Cuba in the 1960s, appears to be the largest single donor – giving just over $3 million in three contributions to Right to Rise since March.
Hushang Ansary, Iran’s ambassador to the United States before the revolution – and now based in Texas – contributed $2 million together with his wife, Shahla Ansary.
Bush has called the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Tehran "dangerous" and "deeply flawed."
Only U.S. citizens or green-card holders can make contributions to political campaigns. Both Fernandez and Ansary have lived in the United States for decades.
The Guardian notes Fernandez once wrote about "the brutality of the regime," and at age 9, witnessed the death of a man by firing squad. But he's also argued it's “time to accept change” in the island’s relationship with the United States.
"I am not a fan of President Obama but after 50-plus years, this is long overdue," he told
the Miami Herald after the White House announced it would move to normalize relations with Cuba.
Bush
in a recent interview with Telemundo insisted he's "totally against [Obama's] policies recognizing the Castro brothers without getting anything in return."
In March, Bush asked potential donors to cap their contributions to the super PAC at $1 million. But
an analysis of historical campaign finance data by the Center for Responsive Politics showed a total of 475 individuals had given $1 million or more to campaigns since 1989.
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