Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff supported President Joe Biden’s actions against the tech industry on Wednesday.
When asked by CNBC’s Jim Cramer for his opinion on claims by critics that the White House was “anti-tech,” the billionaire internet entrepreneur attacked the proposal.
“He says a lot of really smart things,” answered Benioff in an appearance on “Mad Money”. “He says some things that others were afraid to say that are true.”
Benioff didn’t mention what Biden said he thinks was right, but the comments came after Biden came under pressure earlier this week to clarify recent remarks he made to social media companies like Facebook.
After news came in suggesting that platforms like Facebook, which spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, were “killing people,” Biden came out Monday to say the exact opposite: “Facebook doesn’t kill people . “
Meanwhile, the Biden government has targeted anti-competitive practices at Big Tech. The Democrat signed an order earlier this month designed to affect corporate consolidation and update antitrust laws.
The White House added another big tech critic to its staff on Tuesday in Jonathan Kanter, who will head the Justice Department’s antitrust division. This was followed by the appointment of Lina Khan to head the Federal Trade Commission.
Benioff suggested that he not consider the steps anti-tech.
“We have a priority-setting crisis in the government,” said Benioff. “We have to find out what is really important, and certainly our technology industry is one of the great assets of our country.”
Salesforce is a software company that had a market value of approximately $ 188 billion at the close of trading on Wednesday.
The company’s shares rose 0.83% on the day to close at $ 242.11. The share is up 8.8% since the beginning of the year.