LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman had some choice words for venture capitalist David Sacks after he endorsed Donald Trump earlier this month.
In an open letter posted on X on June 6, Sacks praised the former president’s foreign policy and economic strategy and lambasted President Joe Biden’s approach to “lawfare,” accusing Biden of leveraging the justice system against his political opponent in this year’s election.
Hoffman was having none of it, writing in a separate post on Threads that Sacks, in voicing his support for Trump, “got it wrong on just about every count.”
“Since Silicon Valley mostly opposes Trump, he may have seen this as a ‘contrarian’ take that would fit his podcast brand,” Hoffman wrote in an extended Medium post published the same day as his Threads remarks in response to Sacks’ letter. “Sadly, rather than originality, Sacks’ letter awkwardly regurgitates pro-Trump groupthink.”
“Both of America’s choices for President are old, but only one of them acts like an adult,” Hoffman added.
Point by point, Hoffman dismantled Sacks’ argument, pointing out that Trump became a convicted felon after being found guilty by a jury of his peers, comparing economic and crime data from the last two administrations, and accusing Sacks of echoing pro-Putin propaganda in his defense of Trump.
“The voters have experienced four years of President Trump and four years of President Biden,” Sacks wrote in his letter. “In tech, we call this an A/B test. With respect to economic policy, foreign policy, border policy, and legal fairness, Trump performed better. He is the President who deserves a second term.”
Hoffman sharply responded in his posts that Sacks “is reading the results backwards.”
“In tech, we call this ‘being wrong,'” Hoffman wrote.
Sacks hasn’t responded at length to Hoffman’s disapproval, though he did reply to a post on X critiquing Hoffman for taking two weeks to pen his rebuttal, simply adding the “100” emoji in agreement.
Sacks’ support for Trump — and Hoffman’s vocal condemnation for it — comes as a growing faction of Silicon Valley elites have voiced their support for the former president post-conviction.
It isn’t the first time Hoffman has critically weighed in on the phenomenon. In an op-ed published in The Economist earlier this month, Hoffman blasted business leaders for supporting Trump, arguing that a Republican win in 2024 will be bad for the economy and could upend the legal system that American businesses rely on.
Hoffman and Sacks did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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