Vice President Kamala Harris will likely fire Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan if she defeats former President Donald Trump in the November election and succeeds President Joe Biden, according to CNBC commentator Jim Cramer.
“There’s no need to stick to Lina Khan anymore. [because] “Everybody knows my views, so there’s no need to repeat them,” Cramer, who previously called her an “empty suit” and “the one guy who will destroy your stock portfolio,” said during a broadcast Monday morning.
Cramer also predicted that Biden would fire Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Cantor from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division if Harris takes office after Biden decides to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
“Eventually, Jonathan Cantor will leave,” Kramer said. “Khan will leave too.”
Under Khan’s leadership, the FTC has been scrutinizing Amazon’s market practices and has also filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
Khan’s FTC is also investigating Google’s digital advertising business and search engine practices, as well as possible anticompetitive practices related to Apple’s App Store.
“These people are going to be gone,” the CNBC analyst said of Khan and Cantor, adding that a Harris presidency would see “people who are less tech-phobic” promoted.
Cramer said Kantor and the Justice Department were “so hostile to Apple that they were like, ‘Look, your iPhone is too good. You’ve got to stop doing that.'”
The Justice Department announced a lawsuit against Apple in March, accusing the iPhone maker of attempting to illegally monopolise smartphones, eliminating competitors, stifling innovation and keeping prices artificially high.
Apple said the lawsuit is “baffled by facts and law” and that it will “vigorously defend itself.”
Cramer told CNBC he agreed that Harris’ candidacy would be “a positive for markets and for American businesses across the board.”
Cramer accused Biden of being “ignorant about how business works” and “essentially ignorant about the stock market.”
He said the president is “picking someone who has historically been bad for Wall Street.”
“She’s a California native, she’s a big tech person, she understands California and she’s not anti-tech,” Cramer said of Harris, who served as a senator and attorney general before being selected as Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Cramer added, “Biden has done everything he can to embarrass and attack tech companies in these government agencies.”
Cramer praised Harris as a “moderate” and noted that her brother-in-law, Tony West, was a former general counsel at PepsiCo before taking the same job at ride-hailing app Uber.
“Tell me there’s someone who’s more sophisticated than her brother-in-law, knows business and knows the West Coast, who would be a great advisor,” Kramer said.
The Washington Post has reached out to Harris, the FTC and the Department of Justice for comment.
