Republican figureheads from Silicon Valley are rallying behind former president Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate.
Top Silicon Valley leaders like Elon Musk, came out in support of Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick in the hours after the official announcement was made on Monday. Musk himself said that the Trump-Vance ticket “resounds with victory,” and called it an “excellent decision” by Trump. David Sacks, a prominent GOP donor and venture capitalist, wrote on X, “This is who I want by Trump’s side: an American patriot.”
Musk, Sacks, and former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson all lobbied Trump over the weekend to choose Vance, according to a Tuesday Axios report.
The tech industry’s excitement over Vance comes as little surprise. Vance, a venture capitalist himself, has worked alongside major investors like Peter Thiel and AOL founder Steve Case. When Vance ran for US Senate in 2022, Thiel donated $15 million to support his campaign. Sacks also donated $900,000 during the senate election, according to Open Secrets.
Despite his investing history, Vance has also become a vocal critic of the tech industry over his two years in the Senate. He’s called for Congress to shrink the liability protections provided to social media companies by Section 230. He’s also supported efforts to break up big tech companies, accusing them of monopolistic behavior. FTC Chair Lina Khan has received massive amounts of backlash from the tech industry for her efforts to rein in some of its most major players and Vance has praised her work.
Vance’s past regulatory positions seemingly haven’t diminished his tech industry support. “If Trump/Vance wins, it will broadly be extraordinary for startups and capitalism broadly,” Jason Calacinis, investor and All In podcast co-host to Sacks, wrote in an email to WIRED on Monday. “Silicon Valley is largely libertarian — not left… They consider Biden a “decelerist” (decel), so Trump/JD have won — it’s game over.”
The pick hasn’t wooed all right-leaning investors. On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Ken Griffin, manager of the hedge fund Citadel, opposed Vance.
Still, Vance’s Silicon Valley backers could offer massive amounts of cash to support Trump’s reelection. On Monday, the New York Times reported that the pro-Trump America PAC, a new group backed by tech entrepreneurs like Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, could receive significant financial support from Elon Musk. Later, the Wall Street Journal suggested that Musk would be donating $45 million each month.
Many of the same tech entrepreneurs who announced their support for Trump over the last few weeks are America PAC donors, like Shaun Maguire.
“Billionaires and corporations are literally rooting for J.D. Vance: they know he and Trump will cut their taxes and send prices skyrocketing for everyone else,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Biden-Harris campaign chair, said in a Monday statement.
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