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In the aftermath of Donald Trump\u2019s attempted assassination<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> co-founder Reid Hoffman has clarified prior comments he made wishing that the former president was an \u201cactual martyr.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoffman, who is one of the Democratic Party\u2019s biggest donors<\/a>, was speaking at a media mogul conference in Sun Valley just last week when he made the remark to Peter Thiel, the cofounder of PayPal<\/a> and an early investor in Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, Hoffman has taken to X<\/a> (the platform formerly known as Twitter) to clear the air and complain that his comments have been \u201creported out of context\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I meant nothing about any sort of physical harm or violence, which I categorically deplore,\u201d Hoffman wrote in light of the attempt on Trump\u2019s life during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.<\/p>\n Instead, the tech entrepreneur insisted that his quip was about holding Trump to account for \u201chis assaults on and lies about women,\u201d all the while criticizing the 45th president for previously using violent language himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he warns against consequences of him losing the election, he should not predict a \u2018bloodbath<\/a>\u2018 in a way that might incite future protesters to violence against his political opponents,\u201d Hoffman wrote, before concluding that he was \u201chorrified and saddened\u201d by the shooting.<\/p>\n The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot<\/a> in 1981. The attack on Trump resulted in the death of one rally attendee, Corey Comperatore.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fortune<\/em> has contacted Hoffman and LinkedIn for comment.<\/p>\n Last week, Hoffman was among many Silicon Valley execs, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, who attended Allen & Company\u2019s annual Sun Valley Conference in Idaho\u2014informally known as \u201csummer camp for billionaires<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But, according to Puck News<\/em><\/a>, things took an awkward turn when former Stanford classmates Hoffman and Thiel began sparring over their politcal alliances on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n Hoffman was onstage in conversation with Palantir CEO Alex Karp, when he was asked about his relationship with Thiel\u2014who happened to be sitting in the audience.<\/p>\n According to attendees, Hoffman said the two were no longer on speaking terms because of Thiel\u2019s support for Trump, which he described as a \u201ca moral issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To that end, Thiel reportedly stood up and responded that his door is always open, before sarcastically thanking Hoffman for funding lawsuits against Trump because they had turned him into \u201ca martyr,\u201d thereby increasing his chances of re-election.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am so grateful to you,\u201d Thiel added, to which Hoffman shot back: \u201cYeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.\u201d<\/p>\n Just days later, 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump.<\/p>\n Since then, Elon Musk scathed on X: \u201cThe Reid Hoffman\u2019s of the world got their dearest wish\u2026 but then the martyr lived.\u201d<\/p>\n The Reid Hoffman\u2019s of the world got their dearest wish \u2026 but then the martyr lived pic.twitter.com\/laaRBc5yol<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile, some Microsoft shareholders<\/a> have called on Hoffman to resign from the company\u2019s board of directors in light of his comments.<\/p>\n Hoffman isn\u2019t the only person whose recent comments about Trump have been met with scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hoffman\u2019s own strategist, Dmitri Mehlhorn, has come under fire after suggesting that the attack on Donald Trump could have been \u201cstaged.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic adviser sent an email to journalists, including to the publication Semafor<\/em><\/a> which leaked the note, imploring them to explore the possibility \u201cthis \u2018shooting\u2019 was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash.\u201d<\/p>\n Another possibility, Mehlhorn wrote, \u201cis that some crazy anti-Trumper in this chaotic moment decided to assassinate the former President.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he was disappointed that journalists were not already raising the possibility of a fake shooting, before later stating he regretted having sent the email.\u00a0<\/p>\n\nHoffman and Thiel\u2019s exchange\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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Hoffman\u2019s strategist is in hot waters too<\/h2>\n