Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia revealed he left the Democratic Party to back President Trump, citing the border crisis as his breaking point. A lifelong Democrat, Gebbia said he shifted right around 2021 after becoming alarmed at what he saw as a lack of enforcement under President Joe Biden.
“I remember just being like, ‘Holy cow, this is crazy,’” Gebbia told The Katie Miller Podcast. “‘This is not right … there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be enforcing the laws of our country and our border.’”
He said conversations with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner helped him “pull on the thread” and explore other policy issues. Eventually, he concluded: “I don’t think I can support a political party that wants to have an open border, that lets in criminals and dangerous people into our country. That’s just not something I can get behind.”
Gebbia credited his friendships with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk for further nudging him toward Trump. He praised Kennedy as someone who “cares so much about the health of our nation” and Musk for his push to streamline government.