World
December 27, 2024 07:40
united states - Tech billionaires are lining up to be friends with Donald Trump as Democrats face a crisis.
"Everyone wants to be my friend." These were the euphoric words of Donald Trump as he posted a message last week on social media, in all caps and with three exclamation marks.
The night before, he had hosted Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez. The wealthy Amazon founder and Washington Post owner had made an appearance at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. At the lavish estate, Bezos dined with the Republican, who had previously referred to him as 'Jeff Bozo'. Attendees described the visit as a 'submission'.
This unusual meeting is not an isolated incident. Tech entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and Tim Cook (Apple) have also been seen meeting with Trump in Florida. The powerful industry sector, once considered a pillar of support for Democrats, is now turning towards the new sun. These top executives did not come empty-handed. Several entrepreneurs donated a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund as he prepares to take office on January 20th.
It is known that the 78-year-old Republican is susceptible to flattery. And indeed, Trump is making many new 'friends'. His appearance at the reopening of Notre-Dame in Paris earlier this month was a display of power.
This new reality is a harsh blow to a part of the nation that until November 5th believed fervently in the fairy tale that Kamala Harris would emerge victorious. Her resounding defeat and the Democrats' total loss in Congress have plunged the party into a deep crisis.
American news media, once predicting victory for the party, now report on outdated leadership and Harris's hopeless chances for a potential new bid in 2028. Even left-wing news channel MSNBC sees a bleak future and speaks of 'madness'. The overall sentiment is that the Democrats have lost their way.
The atmosphere was quite different last summer. The forced Democratic switch, where Biden was cast aside by his party after a disastrous TV debate on CNN and Harris was crowned the new presidential candidate, seemed like a masterstroke for an expected victory. This was according to polls and many traditional media outlets. The fact that Harris's campaign was mostly empty, avoiding the press and resorting to rehearsed one-liners and electoral handouts, was ignored. However, not by the voters.
Progressive politicians and journalists have since tried to explain the defeat by playing the sexism card. They claim that America is not ready for a female president. Figures show that this is nonsense. Harris received 75 million votes, ten million more than what Barack Obama won with in 2012 and thirteen million more than George Bush in 2004.
Even Hillary Clinton received 65 million votes in 2016, just like Obama, enough for the popular vote but not for the victory. This was not due to sexist voters but to the winner takes all election system per state. Trump won this year with 77 million votes.
The sexism and racial cards prevent the left from acknowledging that the Democrats, with their progressive policies in recent years, have alienated more and more American voters. The excessive woke agenda, the pampering of illegal migrants, and the lawlessness in Democratic-led cities have driven a growing number of citizens towards the Republicans.
Above all, it was dissatisfaction with the economy that sealed Harris's fate. Despite her 'new way forward' efforts to distance herself from President Joe Biden, the nation was not fooled. Voters, especially those with lower incomes, held Harris accountable as vice president for the soaring inflation of recent years.
The victory is therefore sweet for Trump, the man who has been branded as a 'fascist' and 'dictator' and haunted by legal cases. The fear of retaliation against his opponents, such as politicians and journalists, is limited, for now, to legal action. ABC News recently settled for $15 million after host George Stephanopoulos erroneously claimed earlier this year on TV that the Republican was 'liable for rape' in the civil case filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. This was meant to be an allegation of assault.
Trump is also taking legal action against a prominent pollster in Iowa who, days before the presidential elections, caused a stir by predicting a landslide victory for Harris in the state. She lost in Iowa by a significant margin. The newspaper that first reported this news is also being targeted for improper voter influence.
Critics argue that these legal skirmishes could be a precursor to revenge actions once Trump takes office. However, only time will tell. Bezos, at the very least, is a savvy businessman. In the lead-up to November 5th, he prohibited his Washington Post from publishing a voting recommendation. This move cost the paper approximately 250,000 cancellations, ten percent of its total subscribers. But Bezos has deep pockets.
Furthermore, larger business interests are at stake, as well as egos. Trump has an interesting bromance with Bezos's arch-rival; a man who is even wealthier, more innovative, and successful with rockets and satellites. And the man who sat demonstratively between Bezos and Trump at dinner in Mar-a-Lago: the richest person in the world, Elon Musk.