Big tech figures are leaning toward Trump, but support for Democrats in Silicon Valley is also strong
Kyiv • UNN
Major tech figures are increasingly backing Donald Trump for the US presidency, despite Silicon Valley's traditionally Democratic leanings.
Silicon Valley is still predominantly on the Democratic side, but technology elites in the United States are increasingly showing support for Donald Trump, feel comfortable in this and without fear of being ostracized. This is written WSJ and reported by UNN.
Details
The big names in tech are turning toward Republican nominee Donald Trump. Such a shift is likely to be accelerated by the hype over Ilon Musk's nine-figure pledges and the addition of former venture capitalist J.D. Vance to the list, the Wall Street Journal reports.
UNN reported that Trump supporter, Ilon Musk plans to transfer $45 million per month to a Super PAC (super stock package) in support of Trump starting in July.
Prominent tech investor and entrepreneur David Sachs, who previously said Trump should be impeached for his actions related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol uprising, has now endorsed the former president. Sachs gave a speech Monday at the Republican Party's national convention in Milwaukee.
One of Silicon Valley's largest venture capital firms, Andreessen Horowitz, also recently said it would make significant donations to Trump-supporting PACs.
Note that as of 2022, just over half of the voters in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties (which are part of Silicon Valley) were registered Democrats. That share hasn't changed much since the 1970s. The share of voters with no party preference has increased, while the share of Republican voters has fallen to about 15% in 2022.
Silicon Valley venture capitalists also seem to support Democrats more often than average. A recent Wired analysis found that Democrats received $2 for every dollar Republicans received from the 20 companies that, along with their employees, made the most political contributions.
This suggests that Silicon Valley's political views are still very much in line with a 2017 study showing that big tech supports liberal policies: wealth redistribution, abortion, gay rights, immigration, etc.
