Tech industry comes out in support of Clinton
Silicon Valley sees Trump as retro — the antithesis of openness, innovation and globalisation
Silicon Valley, the hub of the US tech industry, is traditionally a Democratic political stronghold.
But that has perhaps never more been more true than in this election year, with a presidential contest featuring a Republican nominee seen here as more interested in returning to the past than building the future.
It is no understatement to say Donald Trump is unpopular among California’s tech titans. Along with overwhelmingly donating their dollars to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, many are openly campaigning for Trump’s defeat.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Twitter co-founder Ev Williams and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales were among more than 100 people who recently signed an open letter from the tech industry, taking a stand against the property tycoon.
“We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation,” the letter read. “His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy.”
Trump has railed against immigrants, proposed “shutting down” part of the internet as a security move, criticised Apple for making its products abroad and accused online retail giant Amazon of “getting away with murder, tax-wise”.
Geoffrey Skelley at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics said the tech sector was also fearful that Trump could start a trade war that would hurt firms with global ambitions.
Instead of focusing on the future and technology, Trump appears to his detractors to be bent on resurrecting manufacturing jobs from a bygone era.
“Trump is pretty anathema to the things that Silicon Valley wants,” said Melinda Jackson, an associate professor of political science at San Jose State University. “He seems to be backwardlooking — to make things like they were before,” she said.
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna, committed $20m to Democratic causes. “It is clear that if Secretary Clinton wins the election, America will advance much further towards the world we hope to see,” Moskovitz and Tuna said in an online post.
Fundraising events for Clinton in Silicon Valley have included one hosted by Apple Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The bedrock of the state’s economy is manufacturing and farming. CEO Tim Cook and another by Laurene Powell, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
“The Clintons, and Hillary’s roots in particular, go deep here,” Jackson said. “She is a known quantity. They trust her for the most part and feel they would at least know what to expect.”
Gregory Ferenstein, author of The Age of Optimists, said: “Trump represents the mirror opposite of everything they believe [in Silicon Valley]; welcoming immigrants, a cosmopolitan global world order.”
PayPal founder turned venture capitalist Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, delivered a keynote speech at the Republican convention at which Trump became the party’s nominee and has donated significant sums to Trump’s campaign.
That prompted former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao to sever ties between Project Include, which is devoted to promoting diversity in the tech industry, and Y Combinator, a start-up incubator Thiel is involved with.
“We are completely outraged to read about Thiel donating $1.25m to Trump,” Pao wrote in an online post. “Giving more power to someone whose ascension and behaviour strike fear into so many people is unacceptable,” she said.