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The billionaire founder of Diamond Resorts, Stephen Cloobeck, is cutting ties with Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and forcing him out of his California mansion after sexual misconduct allegations derailed Swalwell’s bid to become the next governor of California.
Cloobeck, who has backed Swalwell since 2017, broke dramatically with Swalwell in interviews with the New York Post and Fox 11 Los Angeles just hours after Swalwell announced he would abandon his campaign.
“I am no longer supporting Eric. F—ing tell everyone I’m a libertarian. F— you, Democrat Party. I’m a libertarian now,” Cloobeck told the Post.
“I am now a Republican,” he added to Fox 11 LA.
He confirmed Swalwell would no longer be welcome at his California residence.
SWALWELL FACES HOUSE ETHICS PROBE OVER ALLEGED SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AS EXPULSION THREAT LOOMS
Philanthropist and businessman Stephen Cloobeck speaks to reporters on May 30, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“I have a lot of people who stay at my house. I built a gorgeous place, my dream home, I relish it, and I’m a very generous man. I’m very thoughtful and I’m very kind,” Cloobeck said.
Cloobeck has donated to Swalwell’s primary and general campaigns, contributing $23,400 from 2017 to 2023. He has also given the Democratic congressman gifts, including a $39,900 flight to Nice, France, according to congressional disclosures.
The billionaire hinted that he would cut ties with more of the party than just Swalwell.
SWALWELL CALLS SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS ‘FLAT OUT FALSE,’ SAYS HE WILL FIGHT THEM ‘WITH EVERYTHING’
“I’m going to change my Godd— party affiliation, because I cannot stand this Democratic Party at all,” he said. “I am done. Finito.”
California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell waves before speaking at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Cloobeck did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital if he would consider backing a Republican candidate in the California race for governor.
His about-face toward Swalwell follows a bombshell report on Friday from the San Francisco Chronicle, detailing alleged accounts of Swalwell’s pursuit of intoxicated women, pressuring employees into intimate situations and asking for explicit images from female contacts.
DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR ‘SMEAR’ OF FEMALE ACTIVIST ADVOCATING FOR SWALWELL’S ACCUSERS: ‘VERY BAD LOOK’
Rumblings of misconduct from Swalwell first emerged earlier this month when Cheyenne Hunt, a former Capitol Hill staffer and a political media personality, began circulating testimony from women who said they had been sexually assaulted by the congressman.
“The Democratic candidate currently leading in the California governor’s race has a known history of being predatory towards women,” Hunt claimed in a post to social media.
Rep. Eric Swalwell spoke during a press conference on committee assignments for the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Swalwell announced his decision to step down after a series of Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., demanded that Swalwell exit the race.
“I am suspending my campaign for governor. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not the campaign’s,” Swalwell said in a post to X.
