Trump's new allies: Tech billionaires are jumping on the MAGA train

Silicon Valley has traditionally been a reliable gold mine for the Democratic Party and progressive causes. But a rightward shift is occurring. The first fault lines popped up years ago with Elon Musk, but the shift has been accelerating in recent months, with several movers and shakers throwing their weight and wealth behind Donald Trump. Silicon Valley just isn’t as comfortable being a Democratic lapdog as it once was.

Wealthy venture capitalists from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman to Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, the Winklevoss twins, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale, Doug Leone, and many more are now off the reservation and openly stating support for Trump and opposition to Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party’s agenda for America.

Silicon Valley titans want deregulation and a place for AI and exploratory technologies to thrive. Whether that’s an entirely positive or negative direction for the right to head in the future remains an open debate, but the point is that the tech shift to Trump isn’t just about emotions; it’s about business.

Even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is back with a new sun-kissed appearance and less woke outlook. Although he will not be backing anybody this election cycle, Zuckerberg recently admitted that Trump’s defiant, fist-raised reaction to almost getting killed in Pennsylvania was “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Is it just a coincidence that Meta recently removed its “misinformation tracking tool,” or could it be because Zuckerberg is tiring of the woke charade?

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss fiercely back cryptocurrency and gave $1 million each to Trump (although the donations were later refunded per campaign rules) while also funding a down-ballot attempt to unseat anti-crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) in Massachusetts. They also want her “lapdog,” Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, gone. Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in late July, Trump promised just that if he’s re-elected. He also affirmed his strong support for cryptocurrency, which he previously said seemed like a “scam” in 2021.

As Kamala Harris seeks more support in Silicon Valley and strengthens her existing ties, the growing support for Trump isn’t lost on anyone. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, previously worked for Peter Thiel, who founded Mithril Capital, and reportedly invests in Thiel-supported AI defense technology at Anduril Industries. He also has significant amounts of his own money in tech stocks and cryptocurrency and is keenly interested in tech startups. Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Delian Asparouhov celebrated his selection as Trump's VP pick, praising the choice of putting a “former tech VC in the White House.”

Vance’s selection certainly energized a groundswell of support in Silicon Valley and is part of the Ohio senator’s broader pro-tech efforts, including a donor organization named Rockbridge Network that he co-founded with Chris Buskirk to help finance conservative electoral victories across the country.

With a budget of about $75 million for 2024, Rockbridge helps conservatives win elections with a PAC and a number of political groups, including get-out-the-vote efforts focused in battleground states and funding for investigative reporters. It includes leftist turned conservative Omeed Malik among its investors and is also reportedly backed by Thiel and Rebekah Mercer, according to Reuters.

Despite being clearly left-leaning in many of its broadly shared views, Silicon Valley is a place of innovation and has a business-friendly mentality that doesn’t always mesh well with Democratic ideology. Tech businesses want taxes cut and their industry to thrive. But the majority of the sector is populated by socially liberal individuals of the sort who would be ashamed of and socially ostracized for admitting a conservative or rightist bone in their bodies.

As Sacks tweeted of his dislike of Silicon Valley’s censorship culture: “Tech industry publication The Information just casually mentioning that being a Trump supporter used to get you pink-slipped in Silicon Valley. Because, you know, liberals are so tolerant.”

Being on the receiving end of a healthy dose of liberal tolerance himself, Sacks has come out swinging against the word and belief police of the left. He’s also come out hard against VCs who back Kamala, saying they are “gaslighting” others in trying to sell such a terrible candidate to the tech industry. A growing number of Silicon Valley and tech sector bigwigs are simply tired of pretending to support the left just to be accepted by their peers.

For his part, Lonsdale recently sounded off about the prospect of a Harris presidency, agreeing with a friend who found the Democratic National Convention full of “horrible people / policies” and calling Harris a “dangerous radical.” He urged Americans to “look to the UK & EU and what’s happening there,” adding that “the right direction is obvious.”

Things have become rather personal for others such as Horowitz, who recently accused left-wing Sequoia Capital senior adviser Michael Moritz of using a new publication to try to destroy him through character assassination of Horowitz’s wife.

“Michael Moritz is now having his fake disinformation ‘newspaper’ fabricate hit pieces on his business rival, me. And, he has chosen to attack my wife, Felicia.”

Moritz has said Silicon Valley folks supporting Trump are “deluded” and has been feted on CNN and other media outlets for his pushback against the pro-Trump tech wave. Moritz has insisted that there is no real groundswell of support for Trump in Silicon Valley and that the “small number” of Trump-supporting techies are unimportant fools who have embraced an “authoritarian.” He insists that the few defectors in Silicon Valley have only entered the public’s attention and the media spotlight due to their ability to successfully garner attention and go viral on platforms like X.

“I think they’ve been able to amplify their voice and their sentiments far beyond the reality of the particulars in Silicon Valley, which is heavily anti-Trump, as it has been for the last two elections,” Moritz commented in a recent interview, adding that in 2016 and 2020 in Silicon Valley, Trump “barely mustered 20% of the vote, and it’ll be the same result this time.”

Dismissive attitudes like Moritz’s are part of the reason several influential tech titans are deciding to back Trump. They are tired of groupthink and tired of being offered only one choice to steer the ship of state.

However, the shift toward Trump isn’t just about tech guys enjoying edgy jokes or getting tired of liberal word policing. It’s also about the bottom line: A decidedly Randian bent in Silicon Valley is turned off by many Democratic pitches, including a wealth tax that would harm their bottom line.

Silicon Valley titans want deregulation and a place for AI and exploratory technologies to thrive. Whether that’s an entirely positive or negative direction for the right to head in the future remains an open debate, but the point is that the tech shift to Trump isn’t just about emotions; it’s about business.

Whether or not Moritz thinks it makes a difference, Peter Thiel and (future Trump Cabinet member?) Elon Musk are at the crest of a very significant pro-Trump Silicon Valley wave.