Leftist kingpin Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg now identifies as a libertarian that feels a sense of hostility to government regulation, as well as skepticism of initiatives that claim to advance so-called “social justice.”
Zuckerberg now considers his political views to be more libertarian or in line with “classical liberalism,” a position considered fiscally conservative but socially liberal, and regrets hiring employees who tried to push him further left via philanthropy, sources familiar with his thinking told the New York Times.
The sources added that Zuckerberg is also trying to repair his relationship with former President Donald Trump, speaking to him twice in one-on-one cordial phone calls over the summer.
First, Zuckerberg called Trump after the 45th president narrowly survived an assassination attempt on July 13 while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
As Breitbart News reported, Zuckerberg praised Trump over his reaction to the first assassination attempt on his life in July, saying, “Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“On some level as an American, it’s like hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that that’s why a lot of people like the guy,” the Meta CEO added.
A few weeks later, Zuckerberg called Trump a second time to apologize after Meta erroneously took down iconic images of the assassination attempt, sources familiar with that conversation told the New York Times.
The Meta CEO, however, “has yet to forge a relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris,” the newspaper noted.
Zuckerberg, meanwhile, has decided not to engage with Washington, unless necessary, and is instead working on his relationships with politicians behind the scenes, hiring prominent Republican strategist Brian Baker to improve his status with conservative media and Republican lawmakers, NYT reported.
Baker has reportedly told Trump and his staff that Zuckerberg has no plans to make exorbitant donations — which came to be known as “Zuckerbucks” in 2020 — ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a source familiar with the discussions told the New York Times.
People close to Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan told the newspaper that the billionaire couple was caught off guard when their activism and philanthropy backfired on them.
After the summer 2020 George Floyd riots, a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) employee reportedly asked the Meta CEO during a staff meeting to resign from Facebook, claiming Zuckerberg had been unwilling to censor Trump on social media.
Sources told the New York Times that the incident — and others similar to it — upset Zuckerberg, and ultimately pushed him away from political work.
Zuckerberg is not the only tech titan who appears to have changed over the years with regards to politics.
Notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was once relatively apolitical, purchased Twitter — turning it into X — expressing the need for the protection of free speech, and has even come out in full support of President Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
