Embattled pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli announced his support Thursday for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, saying members of the Never Trump movement are just “jealous, stupid and poor.”
“I haven’t been called by the Trump camp. I support him vs. Hillary. He should find a VP candidate who is seasoned in politics, an ugly game,” Mr. Shkreli, infamously dubbed “Pharma Bro,” tweeted to his 117,000 followers.
“[A]ll you people who don’t like trump are jealous, stupid and poor! don’t make me laugh! and if you are employed by media you are worthless,” he added. “[For what it’s worth, I] don’t think we need to ’make america great again’. it’s pretty amazing. a poor kid from brooklyn can grow up to be your boss (and hero).”
Mr. Shkreli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, gained nationwide attention last year after he increased the price of Daraprim, a life-saving drug used to treat infections, by more than 5,000 percent overnight.
He was arrested in December on multiple securities and wire fraud charges related to an alleged defrauding of pharmaceutical company Retrophin Inc., ABC News reported.
He had also previously supported Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and claimed to have contributed to his campaign.
Shortly after his endorsement of Mr. Trump, Mr. Shkreli fell for a tweet from a parody Twitter account similar to Mr. Trump’s.
“Thank you Donald!” he wrote after the fake account tweeted, “Thank you! Together we will #MakeAmericaGreatAgain!”
He then insisted to several Twitter users that the fake account was real.
“No its real,” he wrote to one.
“Nope i triple checked it and back traced the account,” he wrote to another.
In true Mr. Trump fashion, Mr. Shkreli threatened to sue the candidate’s impersonators on Twitter.
“Also stop tricking honest trump important person/celebrity endorsers like me that you are him. you will be sued,” Mr. Shkreli wrote.
Mr. Trump has previously called Mr. Shkreli a “spoiled brat” who should be “ashamed of himself.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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