<figure><img src="https://i.insider.com/6af487e5cbe212047073448aformat=jpeg" height="4000" width="6000" alt="Palantir CEO Alex Karp is pictured."><figcaption>Palantir CEO Alex Karp said that he's been a Democrat his whole life.<p class="copyright">Finn Gomez/Getty Images</p></figcaption></figure><ul class="summary-list"><li>Alex Karp told Politico that Palantir's products are "essentially progressive."</li><li>"I've been a Democrat my whole life," the Palantir CEO said one week after the midterm elections.</li><li>Palantir has been criticized for its business with ICE.</li></ul><p>After the <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/business-tech-leaders-react-midterms-elections-results-2026-11">"blunami,"</a> Alex Karp is talking up his ties to the Democrats.</p><p>The Palantir CEO once described wokeness as a "thin pagan religion" and called Democrats irresponsible and childish. Meanwhile, he praised President Donald Trump as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-ceo-elon-musk-doge-trump-lesson-entrepreneurs-2025-2?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=business-sf">model for entrepreneurs</a>.</p><p>In a Wednesday interview <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/11/11/the-tech-right-pivots-left-01160648">with Politico</a> — Business Insider's sister company — Karp reaffirmed his left-leaning politics.</p><p>"I've been a Democrat my whole life," Karp told Politico. "I know more about being a progressive than almost anybody on the planet, and I absolutely believe Palantir — all of our products are essentially progressive."</p><p>Karp has long called himself an "<a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tbpn-dove-deep-sportscenter-silicon-valley-tech-bros-2025-9">unhappy Democrat</a>," criticizing both what he calls the "Mamdani wing" and the "woke right."</p><p>Karp continued to criticize the Democratic Socialists of America in the interview. He said that they "gaslight Jews and segregate Blacks."</p><p>The declaration may surprise onlookers who know Palantir for its immigration enforcement platform, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ice-palantir-new-technology-30-million-visa-overstays-self-deportation-2025-4">so-called "ImmigrationOS."</a> The company has long been criticized for its business with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.</p><p>Palantir's work with ICE has <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/activists-protest-palantir-across-the-us-over-its-ice-contracts-2020-9">sparked protests</a> and sowed <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-employees-ice-petition-alex-karp-2019-8">internal division</a>.</p><p>In the Politico interview, Karp said that Trump mishandled his immigration crackdown. "I was really happy to hear the president be honest that — you know, his words, I believe, were something like, 'Yeah, we kinda went too far,'" he said.</p><p>The Palantir CEO tied it back to economic justice — and the <a target="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-capitalism">future of capitalism</a>.</p><p>Democrats aren't beholden to the belief that capitalism will solve all problems, Karp said. "Maybe that was once true. I never thought it was true. It's definitely not true now."</p><div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-karp-palantir-democrat-progressive-midterms-2026-11">Business Insider</a></div>
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