Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has responded to reports stating that he had donated to a pro-Donald Trump campaign, saying that he was “deeply sorry” for “negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners.”
The Daily Beast outed Luckey as an anonymous donor to Nimble America, a pro-Trump campaign which listed controversial alt-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos – who had previously been suspended from Twitter following the racist harassment of comedian Leslie Jones – among its members. The group was accepting donations from the divisive unofficial Trump campaign subreddit r/The_Donald, with The Daily Beast reporting that Luckey had attempted to garner further support for the group via the online handle “NimbleRichMan.”
However, Luckey refutes the claims that he was behind the now-deleted account, though admits that he donated to the campaign – despite allegedly supporting Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in the upcoming election. In a post on Facebook, Luckey wrote:
“I am deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners.The recent news stories about me do not accurately represent my views.
Here’s more background: I contributed $10,000 to Nimble America because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards. I am a libertarian who has publicly supported Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in the past, and I plan on voting for Gary in this election as well.
I am committed to the principles of fair play and equal treatment. I did not write the “NimbleRichMan” posts, nor did I delete the account. Reports that I am a founder or employee of Nimble America are false. I don’t have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America.
Still, my actions were my own and do not represent Oculus. I’m sorry for the impact my actions are having on the community.”
Despite Luckey claiming that he did not have access to the NimbleRichMan account, Gideon Resnick, the reporter behind The Daily Beast‘s article, posted a series of emails that he claimed were sent to him by Luckey, confirming the Oculus founder’s involvement with the NimbleRichMan account:
For one thing, he was “NimbleRichMan” as I described. In emails to me, as I reported, he said he posted with the account made for him
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016
Here is where I sought that clarification from him and what he said. pic.twitter.com/pPfLKUX5Cg
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016
As you can see here, @PalmerLuckey clearly indicates that he made those posts under that name which he claims the founders of the group made
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016
One more email: Luckey clearly states in here that the NimbleRichMan account represents him. pic.twitter.com/RC4mXPFDkM
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016
So this account “represents” him and he wrote some of the posts. His statement is thus inaccurate.
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016
Since the story regarding Luckey’s involvement with Nimble America went live, a number of VR developers pulled their support from the Rift in protest. Luckey has yet to respond to Gideon’s further claims.
