Munger: Donald Trump's behavior reflects a 'form of sickness'

Munger: Donald Trump's behavior reflects a 'form of sickness'·Yahoo Finance

Charlie Munger, the outspoken and iconoclastic 92-year-old vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) says that Donald Trump is “A true believer. He truly believes in himself.’

Munger went on to call that behavior a “form of sickness.” Asked if Trump would be harmful to America if elected, Munger responded that “He’d be far from ideal.” As for the chances of Trump getting elected, Munger characterized them as “far above zero.”

Related: Warren Buffett isn’t worried about President Trump

I sat down with Munger for an interview in Omaha the day after Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting which you can watch here.

Munger addressed a number of Berkshire related issues in a wide-ranging discussion, including the company’s exposure to the insurance business, which Munger said had been “dramatically reduced.”

“Insurance has always been a tough business and parts of it are getting even tougher,” Munger said. “Too much new capital and too much stupidity. It’s going to have a bad outcome.”

Munger elaborated on his comment that the ratings agencies were wrong not to award Berkshire a triple A credit rating. Only Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) and Microsoft (MSFT) have a triple A rating, Munger pointed out. “[But] if I had to loan money for thirty years to one of those companies or Berkshire, I’d chose Berkshire in a minute. I think we’re a better credit than they rate us, but what do we care.”

Munger defended Berkshire’s investment in Coke (KO). “People have to take in this immense amount of water every day or they will die. One of the things you can do to add to daily pleasure is flavor the water and get a tiny touch of stimulation from it. That basically does more good than harm in my opinion. The pleasure and slightly increased acuity that comes from drinking Coca-Cola is…if the average life on the planet is one week shorter because everybody is drinking soft drinks, I think that’s a choice people ought to be allowed to make.” Munger said that while some individuals “abuse it” and “get in trouble by weighing 400 pounds, there are “blessings and advantages.”

Related: Warren Buffett will not apologize for his junk food addiction

Munger continued, “what could be more asinine than making a judgment about something without taking into account both the advantages and disadvantages? What kind of a nut would just look at one side and not the other?”

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