Elections

Leon Cooperman: I wrote off Trump early — he's not presidential

Donald Trump
Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman told CNBC on Tuesday he won't vote for Donald Trump because the GOP nominee is not presidential.

Cooperman told "Squawk Box" he rejected Trump early. "When he said John McCain wasn't a hero, and kept on repeating it, because he got captured, I wrote him off."

"The people that are in favor of Donald Trump are basically saying, 'I know what I get when I get Hillary Clinton. I don't want that. I'm not sure what I'm going to get with Donald Trump. I'll take my chances,'" said the Omega Advisors chairman and CEO.

Cooperman said he doesn't want to vote for Clinton and he may write someone in.

"Four years ago, President Obama successfully made [Mitt] Romney's wealth a liability," Cooperman said. "Now we have a candidate [Trump] who gets up there and says, 'I'm richer than you think.' And the public is eating it up.'"

"I'm confused," he said.

In his "Squawk Box" appearance, Cooperman also defended himself against insider trading charges brought by the government, and argued for why he believes the stock market is fully valued.