Trump 2.0

How bankers and ‘tech bros’ dumped woke

Bigoted bosses say they no longer fear getting cancelled as corporate America and 'Big Tech' shifts towards Trump's ideology, writes Arthur Townend

One banker told the Financial Times,

 “I feel liberated. We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled—it’s a new dawn.” 

Monday 20 January 2025 

SOCIALIST WORKER Issue

Big tech bosses are piling in behind Donald Trump

A few years ago, mega‑corporations in the United States were embracing the language of diversity. Now, as Donald Trump heads back to the White House, they are turning their backs on it.

This shows their opportunism—but also that a section of the capitalist class feels emboldened by the new president’s bigotry.

Under Joe Biden’s administration, there was a proliferation of “woke capitalism”—brands and companies supporting social causes and improving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). This was mirrored at a policy level. Biden spent around £800 million on DEI in education.

Republicans reacted. Florida changed its education standards to teach children that black people benefited from slavery. The US right unleashed a crusade on “wokeness”. They boycotted Bud Light after it used a transgender woman, Dylan Mulvaney, in a social media campaign.

Gillette razors ran a campaign against toxic masculinity. In response, Jeremy’s Razors was founded to “deliver smooth skin without smooth-talking activism”, endorsed by far right punters including Ben Shapiro. Trump’s campaign capitalised on the mood that “wokeness” had gone too far.

Businesses had promoted diversity in response to movements such as Black Lives Matter, appropriating the imagery and ideals of the protests for their own purposes. But woke capitalism was always performative and hollow—supporting social causes is a calculated business move. Improving diversity in the workplace fails to address the roots of oppression.

Now the right is trying to push back even these inadequate moves towards greater equality. Trump’s vile bigotry has meant some feel comfortable expressing their views openly.

One banker told the Financial Times, “I feel liberated. We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled—it’s a new dawn.” Another said, “Most of us don’t have to kiss ass because, like Trump, we love America and capitalism.”

Investment bank BlackRock pulled out of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative—which promotes climate friendly investment—before Trump was even president.

Trump loves capitalism, but his anti‑establishment language means he has hit out at big monopolies. “Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans,” he said.

His lack of overt corporate strategy means he will likely just go after companies he doesn’t like. So Big Tech has come out in support of Trump. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google all donated £800 million to fund Trump’s inauguration.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said that the social media conglomerate’s fact checkers “have been too politically biased”. Following in the footsteps of Elon Musk, he will remove “restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender” to allow racism and transphobia to proliferate.

Zuckerberg also said that companies have become “culturally neutered” and that society needs more aggression.

In Britain, bosses are dominating over the Labour government. But in the US, Trump is demanding ideological alignment from huge companies—and the capitalist class is happy to oblige.