Biden says what others are 'afraid to say' about tech, Salesforce's Marc Benioff says

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff issued his support on Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s actions directed at the tech industry.

When asked by CNBC’s Jim Cramer for his thoughts on claims from critics that the White House is “anti-tech,” the billionaire internet entrepreneur riffed at the suggestion.

“He’s saying a lot of really smart things,” Benioff responded in an appearance on “Mad Money.” “He is saying some things that other people were afraid to say that are true things.”

Benioff did not mention what Biden said that he considers being correct, but the comments come after Biden earlier this week faced pressure to clarify recent remarks he directed toward social media companies like Facebook.

After the message was received to suggest that platforms like Facebook where Covid-19 vaccine misinformation is spreading are “killing people,” Biden came out Monday to say just the opposite: “Facebook isn’t killing people.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has taken aim at what it sees are anti-competitive practices in Big Tech. The Democrat earlier this month signed an order intended to impact corporate consolidation and update antitrust laws.

The White House on Tuesday added another Big Tech critic to its staff in Jonathan Kanter, who will head the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. It followed the nomination of Lina Khan to lead the Federal Trade Commission.

Benioff suggested he doesn’t see the moves as anti-tech.

“We have a crisis of prioritization in government,” Benioff said. “We have got to figure out what’s truly important, and certainly our technology industry is one of the great assets of our country.”

Salesforce is a packaged software company that held a roughly $188 billion market valuation as of Wednesday’s close.

Shares of the company rose 0.83% to close at $242.11 that day. The stock has risen 8.8% year to date.