Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has revealed he ditched the Democrats to back President Trump after realizing the US border crisis was spiraling out of control — insisting he could no longer support a party that “lets in criminals and dangerous people into our country.”
The tech billionaire was a lifelong Dem — until around 2021, when he started shifting towards the Republican party because of his concern at the lack of immigration enforcement under then-President Joe Biden.
“I remember just being like, ‘Holy cow, this is crazy,’” Gebbia told the Katie Miller Podcast on Monday.
“Like, ‘This is not right, this is a real problem and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be enforcing the laws of our country and our border.’”
After reaching out to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a friend, for help piecing together what he was missing, Gebbia said he “started to pull on that thread” and zero in on other issues.
After reaching out to his friend, Jared Kushner, for help piecing together what he was missing, Gebbia said he “started to pull on that thread” on other concerns.
“I sort of, you know, begin to look at other topics and eventually came to the point where I don’t think I can support a political party that wants to have an open border, that lets in criminals and dangerous people into our country,” he said.
“That’s just not something I can get behind.”
Gebbia said his friendships with current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk also served as gateways to his embracing Trump.
“I’ve been on my journey. Everyone’s been on a journey,” he said of his gradual shift to the right.
“I think through, you know, certainly Bobby Kennedy and supporting him, and I’ve been so grateful for the work that he’s doing, to be somebody who just cares so much about the health of our nation, and you know, has no ties to industry and is really just able to bust through walls and sort of, like, right size the ship,” he added.
The Airbnb co-founder initially volunteered to take on a role with Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency in February to help examine the retirement process for government employees.
Then, he was appointed last month by Trump to be the chief design officer of the National Design Studio to improve federal websites.
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