Richard Branson on the U.S. election and his death-defying excursions
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton and among the millions disappointed by now President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning victory.
To Branson, “the president of America is also partly president of the world,” which heightens his concerns about Trump, especially with regard to some global issues like climate change.
“I believe, as I think most sane people in this world believe, that the world has a real problem with global warming,” Branson told “CBS This Morning” Friday. “This contrasts the president-elect’s statement throughout his campaign.”
Branson said it is now up to business leaders worldwide to “step into the breach and make sure that we continue to invest in thousands of jobs to protect our world” to prevent problems for children in the future.
Branson also weighed in on Trump’s pledge to dismantle Obamacare, saying that by getting rid of progress towards universal health care, America “sets a terrible example for the rest of the world.”
But after the election, Branson called for unity in a blog post Wednesday, saying: “Now is not the time to create more division. We do so sadly, but have to accept the outcome of the election.”
“Let’s embrace him and give him a chance and if it turns out that these were just electionary and he actually runs a sane administration, I’ll be the first to welcome it,” Branson said.
Branson is also known for his death-defying adventures. Only on “CBS This Morning,” Branson discussed his film, “Don’t Look Down,” which documents his death-defying excursions.
“How did you become an adventurist?” co-host Norah O’Donnell asked.
“I started by having one second-hand 707 in an airline called Virgin Atlantic and I needed to put it on the map, so – and we did it in a fun way, so in trying to break records,” said Branson, who is founder of the Virgin Group.
That “sucked” him into all of his world-record attempts, becoming the first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. Four years later, he went on another adventure across the Pacific.
His excursions were so crazy, his then girlfriend – now his wife – told him, “I will not come to your funeral.”
“It was very harrowing, I mean, we had many occasions where we were facing death and it seemed somehow we managed to wriggle out of it,” Branson said. “And I was young then and when you’re young, strangely, you do mad things that maybe you won’t do when you’re older.”
He may have gotten older, but his philosophy hasn’t changed.
“Look, I think you do only live once and you should live life to its fullest,” Branson said. “And some of the most exciting moments in my life have been these adventures.”
And now, he’s sharing these experiences with his adult children. Branson said he just went on an adventure with his son – who produced the documentary – hiking, biking and swimming their way from from Switzerland to Italy.