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The part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of President Biden’s campaign, claimed that "nobody cares about" the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China.
Golden State Warriors part-owner Chamath Palihapitiya made headlines on Monday when he claimed that "nobody cares" about the Chinese Communist Party-sponsored (CCP) genocide that has been recognized as such by several national governments.
"Let’s be honest: nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, OK?" Palihapitiya said on his podcast, which was released over the weekend. "You bring it up because you care, and I think that it’s nice that you care."
Chamath Palihapitiya, founder and chief executive officer of Social Capital LP, on May 8, 2018. (Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"The rest of us don’t care," Palihapitiya said about the ongoing genocide that has included the use of forced sterilization, beatings and "mental torture and physical torture." He said it was a "very hard, ugly truth."
"Of all the things I care about, yes, it is below my line," he continued, repeating that the communist state-sponsored Uyghur genocide was "below" his caring "line."
According to FEC data, Palihapitiya has donated to the campaigns of several prominent Democrats, including President Biden, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 campaign, Democratic National Committee (DNC), and the Senate Majority PAC (SMP).
The venture capitalist billionaire gave $250,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in support of Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign in July of that year and another $5,600 directly to his campaign. Palihapitiya also donated $66,200 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
President Biden on Dec. 27, 2021. (Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
That same year, Palihapitiya donated a total of $750,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, a political action committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. He also donated $5,800 directly to Schumer’s campaign in September 2021.
Additionally, Palihapitiya has a history with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, having brought the secretary on at Social Capital in 2017 up until he joined the Biden administration for an advisory role that netted Blinken an interest in the company worth $250,000.
State Department spokesman Ned Price responded to Fox News Digital's inquiry about Palihapitiya's ties to Blinken by saying, "Secretary Blinken has made clear that we adhere to the strictest ethical standards, and that our only consideration will be the national interest. Every State Department official will abide by applicable disclosure requirements and strict ethics rules—including recusals when appropriate. That, of course, includes the Secretary."
Palihapitiya’s remarks provoked a response from several Republican lawmakers, who called the billionaire out on giving a pass to the CCP’s ongoing genocide while also blasting the NBA over the organization’s cozy relationship with the CCP.
"We’ve always known that the [NBA] & many of its owners are happy to put profits over people," Senator Rick Scott of Florida tweeted on Monday. "Now [Palihapitiya] is saying it plain as day: he doesn’t care that Communist China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs. He doesn’t care that millions are sent to forced labor camps."
"Communist China is imprisoning innocent people simply due to their Muslim faith & silence is appeasement," he continued.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy wrote that the NBA "doesn’t care, either."
"These are now all globalists and tyrants," Roy tweeted. "And they are coming after you."
Several liberals were quick to condemn Palihapitiya’s comments, as well, with Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor torching the NBA owner as "an arrogant, ignorant, insufferable billionaire a–hole."
Palihapitiya’s comments dismissing the Uyghur Muslim genocide is the latest turn in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) dance with the CCP.
The NBA came under fire after calling former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s 2020 tweet in support of the Hong Kong protesters regrettable.
A State Department official pointed Fox News Digital to multiple links on the State Department's website, saying Blinken has been consistent with his condemnation of the Uyghur genocide in China and said the State Department has taken action in response.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kuwait City on July 29, 2021. (Jaber Abdulkhaleg/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The White House told Fox News Digital that Biden has "been clear about his views" on "China carrying out genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang"
"The Biden Administration has already taken concrete measures including imposing visa restrictions, Global Magnitsky Act and other financial sanctions, export controls, import restrictions, the release of a business advisory warning companies of the serious legal, reputational, and customer risks they face by doing business in Xinjiang, and President Biden rallied the G7 to commit to ensure all global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor—including from Xinjiang," a White House official said.
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The Senate Majority PAC, Schumer’s campaign, and the DNC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The Warriors didn’t immediately respond to FOX Business’ previous request for comment.
Fox Business' Ryan Gaydos contributed reporting.
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