Joe Rogan: The backstory why Silicone Valley Tech Billionaires endorsed Trump

[Melensdad]

Joe Rogan's podcast featured Tech/Investment Billionaire Marc Andreessen.

Fucking shocking to hear what he said.

ZeroHedge has a bit: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/marc-andreessen-tells-joe-rogan-why-he-backed-trump

Marc Andreessen Describes "Alarming" Meeting With Biden Admin That Prompted His Trump Endorsement​

Marc Andreessen, the billionaire investor and co-founder of the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, revealed in a new episode of Joe Rogan's podcast that after an "alarming" meeting with Biden administration officials earlier this year was the moment he would have no other choice but to support Donald Trump. ​

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For decades, Andreessen has supported Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. However, a troubling spring meeting with Biden administration officials caused major concerns. During the meeting, officials explained their plan to control AI through government regulatory capture—a strategy reminiscent of Communist policies in China. ​

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"We had meetings [Biden officials] this spring that were the most alarming meetings I've ever been in. Where they were taking us through their plans, and it was - basically just full government - full government control - like this sort of thing, there will be a small number of large companies that will be completely regulated and controlled by the government, they told us. They said don't even start startups - there's just no way that they can succeed - there's no way that we're going to permit that to happen." ​

In mid-July, Axios reported that Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz had donated to President-elect Trump's campaign. At the time, their support was attributed to Trump's pro stance on crypto and AI regulation. It's another telling example of just how far-left Democrats in the White House spooked Silicon Valley heavy hitters, such as Elon Musk.​

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Back to the podcast, Rogan asked Andreessen: "When you leave a meeting like that, what do you do?"​

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Andreessen responded: "You endorse Donald Trump."​

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[Melensdad]

Condensed version of the highlights in Twitter/X clips.

 

[Melensdad]

From far left AXIOS, at traditional defender of the regime machine, comes this story. Those of us more skeptical may recall that the original Operation Choke Point was mis-used by Obama/Holder to go after small gun companies, gun retailers, etc.

https://archive.is/aklXE#selection-631.0-809.198

Axios Explains: "Debanking" and tech execs

• Ben Berkowitz

Investor Marc Andreessen set off a firestorm this past week when he said dozens of tech executives were quietly "debanked"
during the Biden administration, highlighting an obscure but politically fraught practice.​

Why it matters: Having your access to the banking system revoked is a significant but not necessarily unusual penalty — one that nonetheless has aggravated a conservative base prone to suspicion of government overreach.​

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Catch up quick: Andreessen appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast last Tuesday and said roughly 30 founders of crypto and other companies had been quietly "debanked" — an umbrella term usually denoting someone having their accounts closed, or ability to create new accounts blocked.​

• Andreessen called it "Operation Choke Point 2.0," and claimed it was a campaign against "their political enemies and then to their disfavored tech startups."

The original Operation Choke Point was an Obama-era program targeting the bank accounts of those engaged in consumer fraud, though it became a lightning rod for conservative outrage. ​

• Andreessen claimed those debanked founders had no choice but to hold all their money in cash, or keep applying to different banks until they found one that would take their business.

Zoom out: Andreessen didn't provide evidence for his claim, and it's not clear what actually happened to whom, or when.​

• Elon Musk amplified the claim on X.
• Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong in turn amplified Musk: "Can confirm this is true." Coinbase previously sued the FDIC for allegedly debanking crypto companies.

Zoom in: The idea of "debanking" isn't new or unusual.​

• Aside from Operation Choke Point, there are many other examples of banks not working with — or being encouraged not to work with — certain kinds of risky clients or businesses.
• It has caused controversy in particular not just in the U.S. but also the UK and Australia.

The crypto industry, in particular, has long felt the government was using bank regulatory power to target it.​

• Earlier this month, Coinbase released a trove of documents it said pointed to a concerted effort by the administration to crack down on banks working with crypto companies.

The intrigue: In the waning days of the first Trump administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency advanced a rule that would have prevented banks from denying access to broad classes of people.​

• Just after Biden took office, the OCC suspended that Fair Access Rulefrom moving forward.

The bottom line: It's not clear exactly who lost what services when or why. But the claim alone will likely sustain a controversy and possibly spur investigations after the second Trump presidency begins on Jan. 20.​