A formerly liberal Silicon Valley tycoon says she's given up on the Biden administration and backing Donald Trump, while attempting to sell some pricey Democrat collectibles.
Allison Huynh, 48, is the co-created of AI and robotics designers Willow Garage, who were bought by Google. She also built many of the early e-commerce websites.
Huynh, a Vietnamese immigrant who attended Stanford on a full scholarship, claims she and her ex-husband and longtime Google programmer Scott Hassan helped get Big Tech excited for Barack Obama in 2008.
She now claims that Joe Biden is 'out of touch' and is supporting Donald Trump as an 'independent' in 2024.
Huynh is so committed to changing her politics that Democrat collectibles she once bought out of her excitement for Obama - a rocking chair that belonged to John F. Kennedy, the art for Shepard Fairey's famous HOPE posters - are now being sold.
Allison Huynh, aformerly liberal Silicon Valley tycoon says she's given up on the Biden administration and backing Donald Trump, while attempting to sell some pricey Democrat collectibles
'I am cleaning house.I was a lifelong liberal and Democrat but when things don't serve us in this moment, it is best to move on and let other people enjoy the items. They don't have much meaning for me right now,' she told the New York Post.
Huynh - who bought the poster for around $1million and the chair for $100,000 - takes credit for the likes of Google co-founders Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt joining Team Obama in 2008 at fundraisers for anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a plate.
She shares the same kind of disappointment with those tech leaders as she does with the Obama presidency.
'Obama started out with an aspirational messaging that resonated with me; it was about equality and women and minorities; Biden projected the image of being cool and hip,' she said.
'But where are we now? Immigrants come into our country and commit crimes . . . Big tech tracks you and knows everything about you. But if you are having a problem with whatever [tech] service, you can never get a hold of anyone.'
She seems to have been turned against the Democrats by much of what's occurred in recent years, from COVID to woke liberal policies in major cities to immigration.
She visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida recently for a fundraiser and came away charmed.
'I was surprised when I met Donald Trump. He was light and funny and intelligent. The people there were down-to-earth,' she said.
Huynh is so committed to changing her politics that Democrat collectibles she once bought out of her excitement for Obama - a rocking chair that belonged to John F. Kennedy, the art for Shepard Fairey's famous HOPE posters - are now being sold
Huynh bought the poster for around $1million and the chair for $100,000
She described Trump, 78, as 'knowledgeable' and understanding of the issues most important to her.
Her adopted home of San Francisco shows her the failings of unchecked liberalism.
'We are allowing heroin addicts to shoot up in public, violent attacks on Asians in Chinatown, and looting of our grocery stores and shopping malls,' she said, calling the city 'a failed science experimentfor super leftist ideas and ideals.'
Huynh, who made headlines with her nasty 2020 divorce from Hassan in 2021, came to the United States in 1982 from Saigon after her pilot father emigrated legally in 1975.
She says that Democrats' refusal to deal with illegal immigration is a huge reason for her change in tone.
'I am all for hardworking immigrants, but not for open admission of immigrants. We have to differentiate between legal immigrants who come here and work hard and illegal immigrants who come here and commit crimes,' she said.
Huynh adds that Democrats completely missed the boat on dealing with COVID, especially for people like her who live in big cities.
'The Republicans were smarter. They wanted to look at who was getting sick. Young people suffered the most, even though they were low risk. We had lazy policy in California,' she said.
Huynh, 48, is the co-created of AI and robotics designers Willow Garage, who were bought by Google. She also built many of the early e-commerce websites
Huynh, a Vietnamese immigrant who attended Stanford on a full scholarship, claims she and her ex-husband and longtime Google programmer Scott Hassan helped get Big Tech excited for Barack Obama in 2008
'Many of the super liberal tech billionaires left the country for private islands, super yachts and estates in New Zealand,' she added.
While 'out of touch' Biden isn't getting her vote, she says that Trump absolutely will after meeting him.
'His rhetoric is entertaining. But the policies and politics make sense. I think Trump is engaging. I would like to hang out with Trump. He's a really cool guy.'
