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LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman clarifies Trump ‘actual martyr’ comment

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was implicated in an assassination attempt on Sunday over former President Donald Trump’s previous comments that he hoped the president would become a “true martyr.”

In his X post, the Democratic superdonor was seeking to correct inflammatory comments made last week when he told an audience at Allen & Company’s Sun Valley conference that he and fellow tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel had fallen out over “moral issues” after reports on Friday revealed that Thiel had supported Trump. Puck News reports.

Thiel, who was in the audience for the panel, spoke out, saying the lawsuit had turned the 45th president into a “martyr” and sarcastically thanked Hoffman for funding the lawsuit against Trump.

“Yes, I wish he had been a real martyr,” Hoffman reportedly replied.


Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday. AP

Following the shooting that targeted Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Hoffman clarified his remarks, saying he was “horrified and saddened” by the shooting and prayed for Trump’s speedy recovery.

“Peter Thiel said my legal work against Trump was about ‘turning a clown into a martyr,’ and in that context I responded that I wanted Trump to become a martyr himself — that is, to hold himself accountable,” Hoffman wrote to X, referring to Trump’s legal troubles, which include a conviction for falsifying business records in Manhattan and other pending lawsuits against him.

“Obviously, I never intended any physical harm or violence and I categorically condemn it,” Hoffman added.

Dmitri Melhorn, a top adviser to Hoffman, issued a separate apology on Sunday after writing in an email to some journalists that the Pennsylvania shooting “was instigated or staged by Trump so he could get the photos and benefit from the backlash.” According to Semaphore.


Hoffman made it clear that he condemns any political violence.
Hoffman said he condemns any political violence. Kelly Sullivan

Melhorn, who also donates to the Democratic Party, co-founded a foundation with Hoffman called Invest in America.

Melhorn suggested “crazy anti-Trump people” may have been attacking the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, but he reportedly placed more weight on the “staged” theory.

“I know it’s unpleasant to discuss such a possibility,” he wrote, according to the report. “But in this case, the odds are so high and the stakes so great that[k] question.”

In a separate message on Sunday, Mellhorn said he regretted sending the email and condemned political violence.

“It was drafted and sent without consulting my team members and allies,” he wrote, according to Semaphore. “I have apologized to them directly, and I also want to unreservedly apologize publicly for allowing my words to distract from the core fact of last night: that political violence last night took the life of yet another innocent American.”

Melhorn wasn’t the only one to suggest the shooting wasn’t real: Social media users also floated the wild theory in the aftermath of the shooting.

Trump was one of four people shot during the rally when 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire; heroic firefighter Corey Comperatore was the only casualty.

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