Indian-American tech billionaire Vinod Khosla clashed with Tesla CEO Elon Musk over former US President Donald Trump just minutes after President Joe Biden announced he was “standing down” from the presidential race.
Khosla, the Bay-area billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, called for an open Democratic convention following Biden’s announcement, expressing his desire for a “more moderate candidate who can easily beat” Trump.
Musk responded by urging Khosla to support Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, enthusiastically stated, “Come on, Vinod. Trump/Vance LFG!!”
Khosla did not hold back in his reply, ghastly criticized Trump. “Hard for me to support someone with no values, lies, cheats, rapes, demeans women, hates immigrants like me,” Khosla wrote.
“He may cut my taxes or reduce some regulation but that is no reason to accept depravity in his personal values. Do you want President who will set back climate by a decade in his first year? Do you want his example for your kids as values?”Musk, sensing the intensity of Khosla’s response, acknowledged Trump’s flaws but arguing that the country needs an administration that is “more likely to be meritocratic and promote individual freedoms over the heavy hand of government .”
“Agree on meritocratic and promoting individual freedoms. But abandon climate and “drill baby drill? Be MAGA and abandon NATO and American leadership and moral authority?” Khosla replied.
This public dissent between two prominent Silicon Valley figures occurred just a day ago Wired reported that wealthy “Democratic megadonors” in the region, including Khosla, were rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden endorsed Harris as his successor, stating, “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made”, and the report highlights a major shift among donors who had previously withheld contributions following Biden’s poor and shaky performance in a June 27 debate against Trump.
