sales force Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff apologized Friday for comments he made in support of President Donald Trump, who may send federal troops to San Francisco, where the company is based.
“After listening to my fellow San Franciscans and local officials, I believe we do not need the National Guard to address San Francisco’s safety after the largest and safest Dream Force in history,” Benioff wrote in a post on X.
The Trump administration recently deployed the National Guard to Portland, Oregon and Chicago, sparking protests and lawsuits that resulted in citizens and immigrants being detained without legal representation.
In an article published last weekend in the New York Times, Mr. Benioff said he would welcome troops to San Francisco. The company’s annual Dreamforce conference was held this week from Tuesday through Thursday in downtown San Francisco.
“We don’t have enough police officers, so if they can become police officers, I’m all for it,” Benioff told the Times.
Benioff faced backlash for his comments from local politicians and other leaders. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Francisco politicians issued statements and held press conferences Wednesday to send the message that federal troops are not welcome in the city and that crime is down.
Prominent startup investor Ron Conway, who has backed companies like Google, Airbnb and Stripe, resigned from the Salesforce Foundation board on Thursday. According to The New York Times, Ms. Conway told Mr. Benioff in an email that her “values no longer align.”
Mr. Conway, a longtime Democratic donor and member of Mr. Kamala’s venture capital firm, has contributed about $500,000 to at least two funds linked to Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful 2024 campaign. Mr. Benioff has donated to members of both parties, but has supported Democratic presidential candidates including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.
Venture capitalist David Sachs, now President Trump’s AI and crypto czar, said Benioff could join the Republican Party after the report about Conway. On Tuesday, Mr. Sachs, a longtime friend and colleague of Elon Musk, appeared with Mr. Benioff in an on-stage interview at Dreamforce.
“Dear Marc Benioff, if the Democrats don’t want you, you’ll be happy to join our team. Cancel culture is over. We are a party of inclusivity,” Sachs wrote to X.
After Benioff’s initial comments to the Times, he appeared to walk back his comments, writing to X that safety is “first and foremost the responsibility of our city and state leaders.” But by that point, Musk and other right-wing figures had seized on his original comments and amplified them to their audience.
Musk has drawn criticism for his personal drug use, and characterized downtown San Francisco as a “drug zombie apocalypse.” And on Wednesday, President Trump called San Francisco a “chaos” and threatened to deploy the National Guard.
“My earlier comments were made out of an abundance of caution regarding this event, and I sincerely apologize for any concern I may have caused,” Benioff said in a post Friday. “I strongly believe that our city can make the most progress when we all work together in a spirit of partnership.”
Opposition to Benioff’s initial proposal also came from Gary Tan, CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator. He wrote to X that “we don’t need the National Guard,” but used the post to go after liberal local officials and judges who he believed were too lenient.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
Watch: Benioff interview on Dreamforce
