Marc Benioff, the billionaire CEO of Salesforce and owner of Time magazine, apologized Friday for saying he supported Donald Trump in sending National Guard troops to San Francisco.
Benioff, who is facing intensifying backlash in California, said in an article that after “listening carefully to my fellow San Francisco residents and our local officials…I do not believe the National Guard is necessary to keep San Francisco safe.”
He said his previous comments “came out of an abundance of caution” about his company’s big annual conference, called Dreamforce, which took place this week. “I sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused. I firmly believe that our city progresses the most when we all work together in a spirit of partnership.”
The cloud-based software company’s executive voiced support for the federal rollout in an interview with The New York Times last week, saying, “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it.” The newspaper said he made it clear that he “avidly supports President Trump.”
The comments sparked an outcry, with critics pointing out that longstanding federal law largely prohibits the deployment of troops domestically for criminal law enforcement tasks.
Benioff’s pro-Trump remarks also suggest a stark shift from his previous support for liberal policies. During Trump’s first administration, he was outspoken about wealth inequality, supporting a 2018 local ballot measure to tax San Francisco’s large businesses in order to increase funding for homeless services. He called out other billionaires at the time for “hoarding” their wealth in an interview with the Guardian and criticized opponents of the measure, saying: “You’re either for the homeless or you’re for yourself.” »
The CEO now lives primarily in Hawaii, according to the New York Times.
He walked back his comments days after Trump suggested San Francisco could be the next target for federal troop deployment. California and city leaders said the intervention was neither welcome nor necessary, and immigrant rights groups said they were preparing for a possible increase in searches, arrests and detentions.
Benioff said in last week’s interview that he believes San Francisco needs 1,000 additional officers on top of its 1,500 troops. At his conference, he said, there would be “cops on every corner…just like before.”
Trump has repeatedly used false and exaggerated claims about out-of-control crime to justify federal crackdowns in liberal cities, which have sparked massive protests that have been responded to aggressively by law enforcement.
Speaking to the FBI director on Wednesday, the president said: “I’m going to strongly recommend, at the request of government officials…that you start looking at San Francisco…one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it’s a disaster…Every American deserves to live in a community where they are not afraid of being assaulted, murdered, robbed, raped, assaulted or shot.” »
California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by pointing out that he was mayor of San Francisco 15 years ago when Trump said the city was “great,” and saying the city saw a 45% drop in homicides and a 40% drop in robberies this year, compared to 2019.
The city’s mayor and law enforcement officials also touted the drop in crime and increased police recruitment earlier this week, with the prosecutor saying local leaders “have this problem under control.”
