Biden megadonor should lose board seats over Trump ‘martyr’ comment: Watchdog

A conservative watchdog group is calling on Reid Hoffman, the billionaire Democratic megadonor supporting President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection, to be removed from influential board seats after a comment he reportedly made before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Hoffman told GOP megadonor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel at a conference in Idaho on Friday, before a would-be assassin came close to shooting Trump to death on Saturday, that he wished he “had made [Trump] an actual martyr” in response to Thiel discussing lawsuits Hoffman supported against Trump. But in light of what occurred just the next day, Hoffman should resign or step down from his role on the boards of Microsoft and the Pentagon-housed Defense Innovation Board, according to the National Legal and Policy Center, which said Hoffman’s rhetoric was irresponsible.

“Sarcasm or not, Hoffman has made clear that he doesn’t think Donald Trump has any civil rights, and that he and other billionaires should pick the president, not the American people,” Paul Chesser, director of the corporate integrity project at the National Legal and Policy Center, told the Washington Examiner.

“Some holders of great wealth seek to help the less fortunate or promote freedom and decency,” Chesser said. “Hoffman has instead sought to undermine democratic norms and values.”

The watchdog’s call for action comes in the aftermath of shots ringing out on Saturday at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where authorities say 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, nearly took the life of the 45th president. One bullet skimmed Trump’s ear, prompting the former president to duck to the ground as Secret Service agents rushed to cover him. Trump later stood up with blood on his ear and face and lifted his fist up in the air before being escorted away in a vehicle.

Puck was first to report on Hoffman’s comment Friday, while Semafor reported that Dmitri Mehlhorn, the top political adviser to Hoffman, suggested the Trump attack was “staged.” Mehlhorn later apologized and Hoffman, as far as his “martyr” comment, posted a lengthy statement on X seeking to clarify it.

“It is abhorrent that anyone has tried to assassinate President Trump,” Hoffman said. “Everyone, on all sides of this election, should condemn political violence loudly and publicly.”

“A point of clarification on a recent comment of mine that has been reported out of context,” Hoffman added. “At a recent business conference, Peter Thiel said that my lawsuit work against Trump was ‘turning a clown into a martyr.’ In that context, I replied that I wished that Trump would martyr himself — meaning let himself be held accountable — for his assaults on and lies about women. Of course I meant nothing about any sort of physical harm or violence, which I categorically deplore.”

Still, to the National Legal and Policy Center, which “promotes integrity in corporate governance, including honesty and fair play in relationships with shareholders, employees, business partners, and customers,” Hoffman’s “martyr” comment is a window into how Democrats need to tone down hateful rhetoric about Trump and Republicans.

In the weeks before the attempted assassination of Trump, Biden called Trump “a genuine threat to this nation” and “literally a threat for everything America stands for.” The president also said this is “the most dangerous election in American history” and said Trump “really could become a dictator.”

Hoffman, a venture capitalist who has given $7 million to a Biden-allied super PAC, is also the co-founder of the social media platform LinkedIn.

The Defense Department board Hoffman is on is chaired by ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It “provides independent recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and other senior DoD leaders on emerging technologies and innovative approaches that DoD should adopt to ensure U.S. technological and military dominance,” according to the Defense Department.

“The Defense Innovation Board is engaged in the task of using technology to strengthen our defense in a dangerous world,” National Legal and Policy Center Chairman Peter Flaherty said. “It conducts serious business. It is no place for an unserious character like Reid Hoffman.”

Hoffman did not return a request for comment. The Pentagon and Microsoft declined to comment.