Investor hosting DeSantis fundraiser in San Francisco fires back after interviewer calls the Florida governor 'divisive'



Tech investor David Sacks, who is planning to host a fundraiser for conservative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis later this month in deep blue San Francisco, pushed back after Bloomberg's Emily Chang asked why he would back "such a divisive candidate."

"Why is he inherently more divisive than say, [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom," or a person at the other end of the spectrum, Sacks queried.

He added that he would contend, "words like polarizing and divisiveness, they, they assume a normative baseline in which everybody agrees, everyone in the tech industry agrees because they all come from a certain information bubble, and anyone who deviates from that orthodoxy is perceived as divisive."

Sacks further argued that "you're not divisive just because you don't agree with the orthodoxy of Silicon Valley."

Chang responded by asking Sacks why he is backing DeSantis with a fundraiser over other candidates he could support. She said that DeSantis and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who had been on the program earlier, are at different sides of the spectrum.

"I've donated to Suarez, too," Sacks said, noting that he likes each one.

According to Ballotpedia, Miami mayoral elections are nonpartisan, but media outlets identify Suarez as a Republican.

"I like Suarez because he's been extremely welcoming toward the tech ecosystem in Miami," Sacks explained.

"In terms of why I like DeSantis, he was the first governor to stop these insane lockdowns," Sacks said, noting that the Sunshine State governor acted despite media hostility. Sacks said he respects it when an individual takes the correct position on a matter in the face of media hostility.

Tech investor David Sacks tells @emilychangtv why he's hosting a fundraiser for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis… https://t.co/4xrPwYLknf

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) 1634083144.0

According to an invite, suggested donations for the Oct. 22 fundraiser are $2,500 for a cocktail reception, $7,000 for a photo opportunity, and $25,000 for dinner.

Sacks "has been a successful founder and investor for over two decades, building and investing in some of the most iconic companies in tech," according to his bio posted by Craft Ventures, where he is co-founder and general partner. "David has invested in over 20 unicorns, including Affirm, AirBnB, Bird, ClickUp, Eventbrite, Facebook, Houzz, Lyft, OpenDoor, Palantir, Postmates, Reddit, Slack, SpaceX, Twitter, Uber, and Wish."

It will be fun night. Who’s in? https://t.co/TGq6tESNkM

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) 1634012631.0

DeSantis, who is up for re-election in 2022, has become an immensely popular figure on the political right.

Sadly, the governor recently revealed that his wife Casey was diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple has three young children.

"Her view is, 'Better me than somebody who may not be able to deal with it,'" DeSantis said earlier this week, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "That's just kind of her spirit. I got faith in the big guy upstairs, and I've got faith in her, and I know that this is a bad break, but she's got an awful lot to live for for the rest of her life."

Bezos rockets into space, then thanks Amazon employees and customers who 'paid for all of this'



Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos briefly blasted into space on Tuesday along with his brother Mark Bezos and two others aboard an approximately 10 minute flight.

During a press conference following his jaunt into space the Amazon founder expressed his thanks to Amazon employees and customers who he said "paid for all of this."

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York pounced on Bezos' comments.

"Yes, Amazon workers did pay for this - with lower wages, union busting, a frenzied and inhumane workplace, and delivery drivers not having health insurance during a pandemic. And Amazon customers are paying for it with Amazon abusing their market power to hurt small business," the lawmaker tweeted.

Yes, Amazon workers did pay for this - with lower wages, union busting, a frenzied and inhumane workplace, and deli… https://t.co/FqlYtWgxyx

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) 1626802661.0

Joining the 57-year-old billionaire business tycoon and his brother aboard the jaunt into space were 82-year-old Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen who are now respectively the oldest and youngest individuals ever to have ventured into space, according to Blue Origin.

The flight took place on the anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing and marked the company's first flight with people aboard its New Shepherd rocket system.

"Named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, New Shepard is our reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space," according the Blue Origin website.

Bezos said that the way to protect the earth "is slowly over decades to move all heavy industry, all polluting industry, out into space. That's what we're gonna do so we can keep this planet the gem that it is," he said during an interview with BloombergTV's Emily Chang.

"Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos with the vision of enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth," the company's website says. "In order to preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space. Blue is working on this today by developing partially and fully reusable launch vehicles that are safe, low cost and serve the needs of all civil, commercial and defense customers."

The very first interview with @jeffbezos and his brother Mark after landing.Jeff: “Awe-inspiring…” and then he’s… https://t.co/gp1yga6nki

— Emily Chang (@emilychangtv) 1626793740.0