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Silicon Valley warms up to Donald Trump

Silicon Valley warms up to Donald Trump

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Vocal tech and crypto leaders are increasingly coming out in support of another Trump presidency — felonies be damned.

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David Sacks speaking at a tech conference.
David Sacks.
Getty Images / The Verge

Ryan Selkis worried about his physical safety as he pulled up to David Sacks’ fundraiser for Donald Trump in San Francisco on Thursday night.

Even with the heavy security around the perimeter of Sacks’ “Broadcliff” estate, Selkis, who runs the crypto research platform Messari, expected to encounter swarms of agitated protestors. Instead, he was greeted with an overwhelming show of support for Trump. “It was a 10-to-1 pro-Trump versus anti-Trump [crowd],” he told me the following morning. “People were cheering the cars going in.”

Thursday’s sold-out fundraiser, which was co-hosted by Sacks and his All-In Podcast pal, Chamath Palihapitiya, marked Trump’s first official visit to San Francisco in over a decade, according to The New York Times. More importantly, it signals how vocal leaders of the tech world are increasingly coming out in support of another Trump presidency. Despite attempting to overthrow the last election, getting impeached twice, and more recently, becoming a convicted felon, Trump appears to be fracturing what has historically been an extremely progressive monoculture in Silicon Valley. 

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