Republican Mainstays Sidelined at Inauguration as New MAGA Billionaire Guard Welcomed

Republican governors were relegated to watching President Donald Trump’s inauguration from an overflow room Monday, while a clique of increasingly MAGA-friendly tech billionaires were granted coveted seats at the Capitol Rotunda ceremony.

According to a White House pool report, Republican Governors Mike Braun of Indiana, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia were among those who had to watch Trump’s swearing on a large screen in the U.S. Capitol’s Emancipation Hall.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox posted photos of himself from the viewing room alongside DeSantis, Kemp, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Meanwhile, inside the Capitol Rotunda, watching Trump and Vice President JD Vance take their oaths of office, was a lineup of Silicon Valley all-stars who have variously cozied up to the new administration since November’s election.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk each scored a seat.

Meta, Amazon, and Google all donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, while Cook donated the same amount out of pocket.

Musk has poured over $275 million of his own astronomical fortune into getting Trump elected and been tasked with leading a government commission on federal spending.

Unlike Musk, his tech compadres did not offer financial or political support prior to Election Day but, since the president won a second term, each made a pilgrimage to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in an effort to woo America’s new leader.

Of note, Zuckerberg elevated several Republican operators to key positions at Meta and tapped one of Trump’s best friends, UFC CEO Dana White, to join the company’s board.

He also announced the axing of fact checking programs in the U.S. on Meta’s social media platforms, widely seen as a MAGA-friendly gesture and burgeoning risk of exacerbating the spread of disinformation.

The tech CEOs were granted a spot at the historic event over a group of the most prominent Republican elected officials in America after Trump’s inauguration was moved inside the U.S. Capitol due to inclement weather.

The fact that they were prioritized echoes concerns made by former President Joe Biden last week, who warned that too much political power was concentrating around a small, super-wealthy group at the expense of Americans.

“An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom,” he said.