Rep. Ro Khanna convenes 100 tech leaders as he warns of defections to Trump and the GOP

The Democrats are in trouble.  Silicon Valley. Mostly Progressives and Libertarians, have been financing the radical Democrat Party for years.  But now they realize the Democrats are out after them.  NVIDIA, the AI firm, is now under investigation by the DOJ for “anti-trust” issues.  Other Silicon Valley firms are also targeted by Biden and his anti-freedom, anti-free market Socialists.   The titans of Silicon Valley have finally realized that they have been financing their own demise.

Now, one by one, Silicon Valley folks, who do not like President Trump and donating to his campaign.  So the Democrats are trying to tell these folks not to believe the DOJ demands for information, the trouble caused by government to innovate.  

“Pelosi, the House speaker emerita, who stepped down from top leadership after Democrats lost their majority in the 2022 midterms, will address the gathering at a breakfast Saturday. Lunch will feature a discussion about economic policy between Khanna and Klain, President Joe Biden’s first White House chief of staff.

The retreat will close out with a cocktail reception featuring three of Khanna’s House Democratic colleagues: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán of California; Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, who has focused on civil rights and outreach to Black men; and Sara Jacobs of California, the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, whom Khanna calls “a next-generation leader in our party.”

A pair of wealthy venture capitalists — David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya — will host a fundraiser for Trump days later in one of San Francisco’s ritziest neighborhoods. The fundraiser, where tickets are $50,000 to $300,000 per person, will take place in Pacific Heights, the neighborhood Pelosi calls home.

Let Ro explain the anti-Silicon Valley policies of the DOJ—and why these tech leaders should continue financing the demise of Silicon Valley.

Rep. Ro Khanna convenes 100 tech leaders as he warns of defections to Trump and the GOP

By Scott Wong, NBC,  6/1/24  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/ro-khanna-convenes-tech-leaders-warns-defections-trump-gop-rcna154672

For years, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi hosted top donors, members of Congress and other political bigwigs at a swanky resort in the Napa Valley of California for her two-day issues conference.

This year, Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley and is a leading progressive voice on tech, manufacturing and other economic issues, is following in the former House speaker’s footsteps.

On Friday evening, Khanna will kick off his Innovation Leadership Circle Retreat, a two-day gathering in Napa Valley that will feature a keynote speech from Pelosi herself, as well as talks by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, according to a copy of the schedule obtained by NBC News.

This year’s retreat, at a Yountville resort, will have a much heavier tech focus, Khanna said, as Democrats try to remain “the party of the future” and prevent tech leaders from defecting to former President Donald Trump and other candidates, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Khanna wants to ensure that the “Democratic Party can stay the party of the future, be the party of innovation, be the party of entrepreneurship,” he said in a phone interview as he prepared for the gathering. “I want to make sure that we are the party that’s seen as helping intergenerational wealth creation, that we’re seen as the party leading on the economy.”

One hundred tech leaders are expected to attend, Khanna’s team said, including billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Max Schireson and Deirdre Lyell, former Facebook executive Paul Grewal and former PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman.

According to the schedule, the retreat begins with a welcome party and dinner featuring Kerr, a nine-time NBA champion as a player and coach. He’s a personal friend of both Khanna and Pelosi, and he has used his public platform to call for stricter gun measures.

Pelosi, the House speaker emerita, who stepped down from top leadership after Democrats lost their majority in the 2022 midterms, will address the gathering at a breakfast Saturday. Lunch will feature a discussion about economic policy between Khanna and Klain, President Joe Biden’s first White House chief of staff.

The retreat will close out with a cocktail reception featuring three of Khanna’s House Democratic colleagues: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán of California; Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, who has focused on civil rights and outreach to Black men; and Sara Jacobs of California, the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, whom Khanna calls “a next-generation leader in our party.”

A pair of wealthy venture capitalists — David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya — will host a fundraiser for Trump days later in one of San Francisco’s ritziest neighborhoods. The fundraiser, where tickets are $50,000 to $300,000 per person, will take place in Pacific Heights, the neighborhood Pelosi calls home.

“I strongly disagree with their support of Donald Trump, but they’ve also done events for Robert Kennedy, they supported Vivek Ramaswamy. They’ve supported candidates that are more nonconventional, and, in part, they are contrarians. There has always been a libertarian bent in Silicon Valley, but that’s not the vast majority of technology leaders,” Khanna said, adding that tech leaders understand the importance of government investment in efforts like the CHIPS and Science Act.

“I would say that the 90% of the prominent Silicon Valley leaders are still supportive of the Democratic Party in the present,” Khanna continued, “but we have work to do to make sure that we don’t lose the support of some of the entrepreneurs and innovators in America.”

Khanna said the retreat isn’t a fundraiser, though many of the guests are Democratic donors. His campaign will pay for meals and drinks; the tech leaders and other attendees will pay for their own lodging. Khanna said he plans to shift the retreat south to Silicon Valley next year.

Like Pelosi, Khanna is member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board and an active campaign surrogate.

He hosted a forum on artificial intelligence with academics and other thought leaders on Capitol Hill in February. He has also traveled extensively throughout the Midwest and the Rust Belt, calling for a revival of American manufacturing; he said he’ll be rolling out a modern steel bill in July in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Khanna plans to team up in September with Jennifer Clyburn, the daughter of Rep. James Clyburn, the Democratic power broker from South Carolina, to host a summit with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and 40 historically Black colleges and universities focused on creating jobs and scholarships for young Black students and graduates.

Khanna, 47, has shown signs of laying the foundation for a presidential bid down the line. Asked whether he’s running for higher office in 2028, he said he’s focused on making sure Biden wins re-election in November.

“I want to be part of the future national conversation on the economy and to make sure the Democratic Party is seen as a party that’s for wealth generation, for innovation, for entrepreneurship, for re-industrialization. And that’s my biggest theme; that’s my biggest passion,” he said. “It’s what I’ve been doing for eight years in Congress, and I’m going to continue to do that. And I’m excited about the next generation of leadership.”

2 thoughts on “Rep. Ro Khanna convenes 100 tech leaders as he warns of defections to Trump and the GOP

  1. Good article supporting the left and the Dems. They don’t have enough platforms to promote themselves so now this platform is helping?

  2. I disagree with Rico’s assessment. This article makes the point that we should not assume “Silicon Valley” is with Trump solely because a few billionaires make headlines stating they are supporting Trump in 2024. WE THE PEOPLE absolutely must do everything we can to get out the vote … and this year, it means voting early.

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