Big Tech Mafia seen in church with Trump as new era of oligarchy begins

US oligarchs such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook were seen sitting behind Donald Trump’s family at church on Monday morning, just hours before the next president’s inauguration. This is a great reminder that the United States is about to enter a frightening new era that begins when Trump is sworn in as the 47th president at noon Eastern time.

Trump attended St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., on Monday, a tradition followed by former presidents such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush. But these presidents did not have business leaders who could benefit from the incoming administration filling the seats.

Photographers from inside the church were captured by photographer Anna Moneymaker, some of the richest and most powerful people in the tech world, including men like Zuckerberg, Bezos and Cook, as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai and podcaster Joe Rogan.

The big tech mafia appeared to be largely sitting in a row, while Bezos’ partner Lauren Sanchez was also in a row near former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to The Guardian. The Washington Post.

One notable absence from the church was Elon Musk, at least based on photos taken by a pool photographer. Musk and other CEOs at big tech companies have huge contracts with the US government through their own companies and benefit from their proximity to Trump. 13 billionaires are set to take official positions in the Trump White House.

Commentators on CNBC defended the presence of oligarchs in the church. Chris Sununu, the former governor of New Hampshire, was asked about the presence of these business leaders, and he seemed excited by the spectacle on Monday, saying “it wasn’t the bureaucrats” who were in the seats. The suggestion, of course, is that CEOs would be better at running the country.

Podcaster Joe Rogan was also at the church near the incoming president, and was captured in a photo that gave Trump a somewhat strange look. Also seen was Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old media mogul who owns a wide range of conservative media outlets around the world. Trump sat in the church next to incoming Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, incoming second lady Osha Vance. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were sitting in the row behind the president.

Trump has promised to issue a series of executive actions once he takes office, including a pardon for the insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. But there have been conflicting reports about whether Trump will pardon the most violent coup plotters.

President Joe Biden released his own book Preemptive pardon Early Monday to figures like Gen. Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci, people Trump has suggested he will target for retaliation when he takes office. In fact, Trump has previously suggested Milley should be executed for treason. So, Americans will soon discover whether these pardons are worth the paper they are written on.

If you’re an American, things are about to change very quickly in this country. And all we can do is try to protect the vulnerable in our communities as best we can while Trump and his followers plunder the country.