U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver July 1, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking - RTX2JA54 (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)
More than 100 Silicon Valley leaders have slammed Donald Trump in an open letter posted on the website Medium Thursday.
“Trump would be a disaster for innovation,” they write. “His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy — and that provide the foundation for innovation and growth.”
The letter’s 145 signatories include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman and investor Vinod Khosla, who co-founded Sun Microsystems. No CEOs from Silicon Valley heavyweights Apple, Facebook and Google are included on the list.
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“We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not,” the signatories write. “He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been outspoken on technology issues, calling for a boycott of Apple products earlier this year when the smartphone maker was locked in a security battle with the FBI. Last year Trump surprised his rivals during a debate when he suggested clamping down on internet connectivity as a way to limit ISIS’ ability to recruit and raise funds online.
The letter was posted to Medium by signatory Katie Jacobs Stanton, chief marketing officer of Color Genomics. Stanton, a former vice president of global media at Twitter, is a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
A disclaimer explains that the signatories have endorsed the letter in a personal capacity, which does not reflect the endorsement of any organizations, corporation or entities to which they are affiliated.
The Trump campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment on this story from FoxNews.com.
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