The Virgin founder says he wants an entrepreneur in the White House. Just not this one.
Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.
When you're an entrepreneur, you get used to criticism.
Why, in the dead of night you lie awake calling yourself names.
It hurts, though, when the criticism comes from a fellow entrepreneur.
I imagine, therefore, that even Donald Trump's legendary thick skin might feel a slight burning sensation when he hears what Virgin founder Richard Branson has just said about him.
Taking to his own airline's site, Branson penned an impassioned excoriation of the Republican nominee.
"There are many entrepreneurs who I would be delighted to see in power -- just not this one," he said.
Doesn't Branson want to see a great America?
He said he doesn't see Trump making America great, whether again or not.
Indeed, he suggested a Trump presidency would be a "disaster."
He said many of his American entrepreneurial friends who are Republicans can't conceive of voting for Trump "due to his extreme views, and his shocking ignorance of policy."
Perhaps even more cutting is Branson's view that Trump isn't even a great entrepreneur.
"Great entrepreneurs build businesses with purpose at their heart and always treat people with respect," he said. "These are not characteristics I see in Mr Trump -- neither in his previous business dealings, nor in this campaign."
Branson believes Hillary Clinton would be "a safe pair of hands."
This he contrasted with a visceral lack of appreciation for Trump's skills as a greater-maker.
"Mr Trump's temperament is irrational, aggressive and he lacks informed ideas on how to grow jobs in America," he said.
Branson went on to remind that America was built on diversity and openness.
Some might mutter, though, that Branson should take a peek at his own country.
There, the political atmosphere has been garlanded by a Conservative Party that embraced forcing businesses to publicly list all their foreign employees.
Yes, the plan was abandoned, but the imminent withdrawal from the European Union suggests that the "division and close-mindedness" of which Branson accuses Trump isn't somehow isolated to him.
At heart, though, Branson believes there's a fundamental business truth in resisting the lure of Trump's charms.
"You manage the downside," he said, "you seek the facts to inform your view, and you don't ever allow fear to influence your opinion."
This seems wise.
Although the very literal might mutter that the reason so many senior business figures are against Trump is precisely because they're afraid of what he might do.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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