"The politics of hate that dominates our discourse today in the U.S. and in so many countries around the world breed extremism and violence," the Open Society Foundations said in a statement. Soros, a former hedge fund manager who made his fortune with swashbuckling trades in currency and bond markets, is a longtime supporter and financial backer of progressive causes and Democratic politicians -- and a bogeyman of the right wing, which accuses him of all manner of anti-American plots. Most recently, President Donald Trump claimed that Soros paid people to protest Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation.