Hollywood moguls clash with Trump's Silicon Valley supporters
The long-running rivalry between Hollywood and Silicon Valley has entered a new era as the emergence of tech moguls supporting former President Trump's bid to return to the White House has sparked a response from Hollywood liberals backing the Democratic ticket.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the entertainment industry's liberals have a newfound enthusiasm for the 2024 race in the wake of President Biden's withdrawal from the race and Vice President Harris replacing him as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
The candidate swap got a major boost from actor George Clooney, who penned an op ed urging Biden to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance that raised concerns about the president's ability to serve for another four years. Democratic megadonor and Endeavor talent agency CEO Ari Emanuel penned a similar op ed.
With Hollywood's liberals emboldened after Biden's withdrawal, they're turning their attention to Silicon Valley figures who've backed Trump's campaign. The outlet quoted one studio executive as summing up Hollywood's view of the rise of Trump supporters in Silicon Valley, "F— these Trump-loving techies."
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"We've had a decade in which the Musks and Zuckerbergs and Sam Altmans of the world have been defining our culture, and the world is not better for it," a well-known Hollywood executive and Harris supporter told THR. "These guys have too much power as it is. We don't need them setting policy and running the Oval Office. I think this campaign is a chance to even the scales."
The antipathy among Hollywood's Harris backers for Silicon Valley's Trump supporters comes as several high profile figures in the tech industry have been vocal in their support for the former president's campaign and opened up their wallets to fund it.
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Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk reportedly pledged to donate $45 million a month in support of the Trump campaign — though he later said that he hadn't committed to donating at that level and clarified that he is "making some donations to America PAC, but at a much lower level."
Musk ally and venture capitalist David Sacks hosted a San Francisco fundraiser for Trump's campaign that netted $12 million — surpassing their goal of $5 million. Bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each donated $1 million in bitcoin to the Trump campaign.
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PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel's past financial support for the 2022 campaign of Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who Trump picked as his vice presidential nominee and previously worked with Thiel, has previously said he won't donate to candidates in the 2024 cycle. However, Trump's selection of Vance prompted speculation that Thiel would eventually show support for Trump's campaign.
After Democrats swapped Biden for Harris, Hollywood's liberal donors helped fuel a record-breaking $100 million surge in donations for the Democratic ticket that showed the renewed interest in backing Trump's rival. It also helped reinvigorate Silicon Valley's Democratic donors like Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, who personally donated $7 million to a pro-Harris PAC in his largest-ever donation.
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"The enthusiasm and support for the vice president has been euphoric," DreamWorks co-founder and Harris campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg told THR. "It's ignited people in a way I've never seen before."