Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff appears to be backtracking on comments calling for the National Guard to patrol San Francisco.
“After listening to my fellow San Franciscans and local officials, I do not believe the National Guard is necessary to protect San Francisco after the largest and most secure Dream Force in history,” Benioff wrote in a post on X. “My earlier comments were out of an abundance of caution over this event, and I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused.
Benioff sparked a controversy last week when he expressed support for President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco and other cities led by Democratic politicians in an interview with The New York Times.
Benioff’s comments appeared to be prompted by concerns about public safety costs at the company’s massive Dreamforce conference in San Francisco last week, but the formerly liberal billionaire used the interview to welcome Trump, at one point saying, “I fully support the president,” adding that Trump is “doing a great job.” (At the end of the interview, he reportedly asked the shocked publicist, “Is it too spicy?”)
And while Benioff’s pro-Trump stance appears to be consistent with a broader rightward shift among tech executives, his call for the National Guard to come to San Francisco quickly drew backlash from longtime allies and Democratic politicians. Prominent venture capitalist Ron Conway has resigned from the board of directors of the Salesforce Foundation, with Conway reportedly telling Benioff in an email that he “now hardly recognizes the man I have admired for so many years.”
An event scheduled to feature Benioff and San Francisco Mayor Dan Lurie was canceled by organizers, citing rain.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, told Politico, “I’m grateful that Mark has withdrawn his request for the National Guard to be deployed to San Francisco. Mark has done so much good for our city and supported the needs of so many citizens, and I’m glad to see this change.”
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President Trump has already deployed the National Guard to other cities, including Washington, D.C. and Chicago, but a judge has so far blocked a similar effort in Portland. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois repeatedly described it as an “invasion” of his state.
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