Those lucky enough to stay off X during the holidays missed an ugly battle that, despite its absurdity, still seems portentous of the emerging cracks in Trump world. Without getting too deep into the weeds, the skirmish began when alt-right meme accounts and conspiracy theorist/activist Laura Loomer took issue with Trump’s appointment of Sriram Krishnan, a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to a White House artificial intelligence policy position.
Krishnan is from India, and although other new Trump acolytes such as Elon Musk and David Sacks are foreign-born, Krishnan’s pick drew an overtly racist outcry from supporters who took Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric at face value. The VC class immediately rushed to Krishnan’s aid, fighting online against an often anonymous, yet foundational, element of the Trump bloc.
