California tech billionaire Marc Benioff, once a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, has become “unrecognizable” after endorsing President Donald Trump’s National Guard deployments and cozying up to the president, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Benioff had initially distanced himself from Trump following his 2024 victory, pledging to maintain his company’s core values such as diversity and inclusion. But after he publicly supported Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco and made social media posts congratulating the president, those around him began to question whether he had caved on his principles.
“Marc Benioff stood out as someone who showed us that San Francisco values and the tech industry could coexist with and amplify each other,” said California state Rep. Matt Haney, a Democrat who represents San Francisco, speaking with the Post. “[That persona is now] unrecognizable.”
Others, like Rafael Mandelman, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, described Benioff’s apparent shift towards Trump as a “gut punch.”
Inside Benioff’s company Salesforce, the reaction was also negative. A message sent in the company’s internal messaging channel sharing a news article that included Benioff’s comments supporting Trump’s National Guard deployments garnered 200 negative reactions from employees using barfing-face emojis, according to a screenshot obtained by the Post.
“This seems to conflict pretty heavily with our values,” an employee at Salesforce wrote, according to the report.
While Benioff eventually walked back his support for Trump’s proposal to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco, he continued to praise the president on social media. Last month, Benioff even joined Trump for dinner in Tokyo.
Their relationship appeared so strong that Trump personally asked Benioff for advice on who should replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — whom Trump has frequently clashed with and considered firing over Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates as Trump wished.
“Marc, do you have a suggestion?” Trump asked Benioff, owner of Time magazine, during the dinner.
“You put me on the cover of Time magazine. That was a nice picture. Thank you very much for that,” Trump added.
Benioff’s evolving political stance has sparked concern and surprise among former allies and employees alike as he increasingly aligns with the Trump administration.
https://www.rawstory.com/marc-benioff-trump-gut-punch/
Be First to Comment