Silicon Valley, a bastion of Democratic politics, is experiencing a shift as more voices openly declare their support for Donald Trump, seemingly encouraged by Elon Musk. The South African-born tech mogul is leading the shift by pouring nearly $100 million into the Republican presidential campaign, while using social media platform X and personally campaigning in critical states to help Trump’s bid for the White House.

“Musk is respected by a lot of people in Silicon Valley,” said Vivek Wadhwa, a tech entrepreneur and author who teaches at Carnegie Mellon University. “More people on the right are saying, ‘Look, we’re fed up, we’re going to vote for Trump,’ and they’re doing it fearlessly and influencing the opinions of others.”

Musk’s embrace of Trump has reinforced ideological currents that have long quietly existed in the California tech scene; today it is best represented by Peter Thiel, a conservative investor who worked with Musk at PayPal 25 years ago.