Andreessen Invested in Fraudulent Lender Shuttered by CFPB
Washington, DC — During an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience broadcast on Tuesday, right-wing venture capitalist Marc Andreessen falsely claimed that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was responsible for de-banking politically conservative people, saying “I have not heard of a single instance of anybody on the left getting de-banked.” In response, Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday, “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies.” Contrary to Andreessen’s comments, the CFPB has specifically warned against the de-banking of people of all ideologies, including conservative Christians. Also of note is the fact that the CFPB previously shuttered an online lender backed by Andreessen for illegally defrauding customers. The agency’s enforcement actions have returned billions of dollars to consumers.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Education Fund Corporate Power Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:
“Big Tech barons like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen think the American people are too stupid to see through their blatant self-interest. The CFPB is not de-banking conservatives. In fact, the agency and Director Rohit Chopra actually reached across the aisle to call out the de-banking of people from all ideologies, including conservative Christians. What Andreessen is trying to do is attack a consumer watchdog that shuttered a fraudulent lender backed by his venture capital firm. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is either cynically playing along or is too ignorant to know the facts. Wall Street tried and failed to stop the CFPB from protecting consumers from their predatory schemes. Now Big Tech, Big Crypto and Big AI are trying to do the same thing.”