Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff apologizes for San Francisco rollout remark

Salesforce boss Marc Benioff apologized Friday for suggesting that US President Donald Trump send National Guard troops to San Francisco.

The apology follows days of backlash against Mr Benioff for a comment he made before his company’s annual Dreamforce conference in the city.

“After listening carefully to my fellow San Francisco residents…I do not believe the National Guard is necessary to provide security in San Francisco,” he said.

This saga comes amid the Trump administration’s military deployments in American cities — many of which are led by Democrats. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to overturn lower courts that blocked the National Guard’s deployment to Chicago.

The mood at the usually jubilant Dreamforce convention was dampened by canceled appearances by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, as well as comedians Kumail Nanjiani and Ilana Glazer.

Mr. Benioff has been the subject of public rebukes from several Democratic politicians, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who served as mayor of San Francisco and appeared on stage with Mr. Benioff at last year’s convention.

On Thursday, venture capitalist Ron Conway resigned from the Salesforce Foundation board, telling the New York Times that their values ​​”were no longer aligned.”

“I barely recognize the person I’ve admired for so long,” Conway told the newspaper.

Although Mr. Benioff walked back his comments earlier in the week, the apology posted on social media Friday appeared aimed at putting an end to the controversy.

“I remain deeply grateful to Mayor Lurie, the SFPD and all of our partners, and I am fully committed to a safer and stronger San Francisco,” Mr. Benioff said in his X message.

But he stressed that his support for a crackdown “comes from an abundance of caution” regarding Dreamforce’s security, adding “I sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused.”

Sylvia Paull, a veteran Silicon Valley journalist, called Benioff “typical” of many tech CEOs who aren’t “really political animals” and tend to be transactional.

“It was going to hurt his sales.”

And that’s not all.

“He’s afraid of losing his inheritance,” she said of his excuses.

Mr. Benioff, who also owns Time Magazine, has been a prolific donor to civic causes in San Francisco over the years.

His name adorns one of the most important hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 2018, he funded support for a ballot measure in San Francisco to raise corporate taxes to fund homeless services. It was adopted despite controversy.

And while he previously hosted a fundraiser for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign against Mr. Trump, Mr. Benioff appeared with the sitting president during his state visit to London last month.

Mr. Trump said Wednesday that San Francisco was one of the next targets on his list of places where he plans to deploy the National Guard, calling the city a “mess.”

In an emergency appeal Friday, the president asked the Supreme Court to allow him to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. Lower courts have blocked the deployment so far, with one appeals court finding such a move “would likely lead to civil unrest” and “only add fuel to the fire.”

The court ruled that it had “seen no credible evidence that there was any rebellion in the State of Illinois.”

Officials in Illinois and Chicago sued the Trump administration to block the deployment, arguing it was a “serious intrusion on Illinois sovereignty.”

The administration recently deployed the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, a move that also sparked lawsuits and protests. He had previously sent troops to Los Angeles, Washington and parts of Tennessee.

The New York Times also reported this week that Salesforce offered its services to the Trump administration as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramps up the hiring of new agents amid an immigration crackdown.

The BBC has contacted Salesforce for comment.

David Sacks, a Trump administration official and Silicon Valley entrepreneur, addressed Mr. Benioff in an article on X this week, writing “if the Democrats don’t want you, we’d be happy to have you join our team.”