Tech leaders offer support, well wishes for Trump following shock assassination attempt

In case you didn’t catch the news yesterday, former U.S. president and current 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump was shot in the right ear by a would-be assassin during an attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, yesterday, near Pittsburgh.

Trump was reportedly treated for non life-threatening injuries and released from a hospital shortly afterwards. The attack resulted in the death of the would-be assassin and at least one other individual.

The shocking news has galvanized leaders from some of the largest and most notable tech companies in the country to showing support and well wishes for Trump on his recovery, even from former critics of his and targets of his ire.

For instance, billionaire owner/leader of six tech companies Elon Musk, who Trump previously derided on his own social network Truth Social for Musk’s “many subsidized projects, whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless,” posted a full endorsement of Trump’s 2024 re-election bid on X.

Meanwhile, onetime critic and Amazon founder/ex CEO Jeff Bezos, who in 2015 said he wanted to “reserve [Trump] a seat” on a rocket from his private spaceflight company Blue Origin and posted the hashtag “#SendDonaldtoSpace” back then, yesterday posted on X that he thought Trump “showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight…so thankful for his safety.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook said on X he would “pray for President Trump’s rapid recovery.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai similarly posted on X that he wished “President Trump a speedy recovery.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to X to decry “any type of violence in our society” while “sending my best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted a shorter message on X exclaiming “very glad President Trump is safe!” in his typical lower case sentence starting structure.

The outpouring of support and condolences from tech leaders for the former president and current Republican candidate is notable at a time of intense polarization in the country, indicating an effort to foster unity and common decency. Yet some Trump critics will no doubt view the sentiments unfavorably as a boost for him — especially Musk’s full-throated endorsement.

How the tech industry navigates the upcoming 2024 U.S. general election in November remains an ongoing challenge in the face of apparent disinformation and influence campaigns by AI-driven bots, imagery, and other factors.