Tech Leaders Give Three Reasons Why A Trump Presidency Would Be Bad For Business
Nearly 150 tech-sector leaders—among them, Donna Harris, the co-founder of DC startup incubator 1776—have penned an open letter in the Huffington Post explaining why Donald Trump would be bad for business. "He risks distorting markets, reducing exports and slowing job creation."
"Trump would be a disaster for innovation," the letter says, signed by general counsels, law professors, former FCC chairs William Kennard and Reed Hundt, and execs including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Tumblr founder/CEO David Karp, Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
The letter gives three main reasons a Trump presidency wouldn't "provide the foundation for innovation and growth":
- While human talent drives innovation forward, Trump "is openly hostile to immigration."
- The free and open exchange of ideas drives innovation but "Trump proposes 'shutting down' parts of the internet" and has revoked press credentials for organizations that criticize him.
- Government supports the tech economy with investments in education, infrastructure and research, and Trump's "reckless disregard for our legal and political institutions" could "upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America."
