Mark Zuckerberg said former President Donald Trump’s immediate reaction after being shot was “brilliant” and inspiring, and that it helps explain his appeal to voters.
“To see Donald Trump stand up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever seen in my life,” the chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc. said Thursday during an interview at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. “At some level, as an American, it’s hard not to be passionate about that spirit and that fight, and I think that’s why so many people like the guy.”
Zuckerberg, 40, declined to endorse either Trump or his likely opponent, President Joe Biden, saying he’s “not planning” to get involved in the election in any way. Still, his comments join a growing chorus of Silicon Valley leaders, including Tesla Inc billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, warming to the former president, some of whom have pledged donations to his campaign. Zuckerberg made the comments during a wide-ranging discussion about the future of AI, social media and more for The Circuit with Emily Chang. The full episode is set to air Tuesday.
Zuckerberg said Meta is making changes that he hopes will make Facebook less important in elections going forward. “The main thing I’ve heard from people is that they really want to see less political content on our services because they come to our services to connect with people,” he said. Meta is already suggesting less political content to its users, he said. “I think you’ll see our services play less of a role in this election than they have in past elections.”
Zuckerberg’s relationship with Trump has been complicated by Trump’s use of Meta’s products to reach his followers. The former president’s posts regularly contain misinformation or challenge Meta’s rules. The company suspended Trump from both Facebook and Instagram for two years in the wake of the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. At the time, Zuckerberg posted that Trump was using his account to “undermine the peaceful and lawful transfer of power to his elected successor.”
Though the accounts have since been restored, Trump has indicated he has not forgiven Meta or Zuckerberg, and recently suggested he plans to retaliate. He called Facebook the “enemy of the people” in March. Earlier this month, Trump also issued a warning to Zuckerberg. “All I can say is that if I am elected president, we will crack down on election fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to jail for a long time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We already know who you are. Don’t do this! Zuckerbucks, watch out!”
Trump has changed his policy position in the name of punishing Meta. While president, Trump had pushed for a ban on the Chinese-owned video app, TikTok. Trump has since changed his stance, arguing in Businessweek that a ban would be too beneficial to Meta’s business.
Zuckerberg said he welcomes competition. “It’s good,” he said on The Circuit. “I think we’re doing pretty well here. We’re gaining market share. So I don’t know. They’ll do what they have to do, but I think we’ll be fine and we’ll continue to do well in this space either way.”
When asked if he thought TikTok should be banned, Zuckerberg demurred. He said, “It’s above my pay level.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
