In this episode of “Who Didn’t See This Coming?”…
Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms (DBA: Meta, formerly named Facebook, Inc.) has kicked in a cool million dollars to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. This was Zuckerberg’s latest attempt to make amends with the incoming president, after admitting to Congress that Facebook censored users at the request of the Biden-Harris administration.
Before finishing the article, let’s first do this: Raise your hand if you think Zuck’s “peace offering” is sincere.
(For the record, no one raised a hand. Don’t ask me how I know; I just do.)
As I reported on August 26, Zuck later said he “regretted” bowing to pressure from the White House, writing in a letter:
I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.
Uh-huh. Zuck’s mea culpa was tantamount to a little kid getting caught by his parents for stealing a cookie or two before dinner, or slipping out the back door to play while he was supposed to be doing his homework.
Noted law professor and political commentator Jonathan Turley wasn’t buying Zuck’s “regret” nonsense either. Turley wrote at the time (emphasis, mine):
For those of us who have criticized Facebook for years for its role in the massive censorship system, Zuckerberg’s belated contrition was more insulting than inspiring. It had all of the genuine regret as a stalker found hiding under the bed of a victim.
Zuckerberg’s sudden regret only came after his company fought for years to conceal the evidence of its work with the government to censor opposing views. Zuckerberg was finally compelled to release the documents by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the House Judiciary Committee.
As a conservative writer who’s posted content to Facebook for roughly 15 years, I’ve seen Zuck’s playground grow bolder and more blatant in its censorship, often bordering on ridiculousness. So again, please.
ALSO READ:
Zuck ‘Regrets’ Yielding to WH Pressure to Censor Facebook Users. Jonathan Turley Says That’s Nonsense.
Zuck Comes Clean, Admits to Jim Jordan That Facebook Censored Americans at Behest of Biden-Harris Admin.
Then, the “unthinkable” happened. Unthinkable to the left, that is: Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Three weeks later, Zuck traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, to meet privately with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, reportedly because he “wants to support the renewal.”
Zuckerberg’s visit was confirmed by Trump adviser Stephen Miller during an episode of “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News. Miller told guest host Brian Kilmeade:
Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be a supporter of and a participant in this change that we’re seeing all around America, all around the world with this reform movement that Donald Trump is leading. Mark Zuckerberg, like so many business leaders, understands that President Trump is an agent of change, an agent of prosperity.
OK, one more time: Oh, please.
As exclusively reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, while Trump blasted Zuckerberg throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, “ties [between the two] have been improving.”
The donation [to Trump’s inaugural fund], confirmed by the company, is a departure from past practices by Zuckerberg and his company, and comes after an election campaign in which Trump threatened to punish the tech tycoon if he tried to influence the election against him.
The contribution and efforts to court the incoming administration are emblematic of the balancing act for technology CEOs whose companies have often been the target of ire from Trump and other Republicans and whose workforces tend to lean strongly to the left.
Now, with Republicans set to take control of the White House and both houses of Congress and calling for new regulation of tech, some executives are adopting a new posture toward Trump.
Again, it’s the “kid who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar” thing.
And for the record, Zuckerberg and Meta (specifically, Facebook), and other “guilty” tech companies, have not been the target of ire from Trump because their workforces lean strongly to the left; they have been targeted by Trump and other Republicans because they’ve worked against Trump and conservatism, often suppressing or completely censoring content favorable to the former president or critical of the left’s policies or presidential candidates.
In similar news, as the Journal reported:
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, long a foe of the president-elect, congratulated Trump on X after the election for “an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,” and said this month that he’s “actually very optimistic this time around.” Speaking at a New York Times conference, he said: “What I’ve seen so far is that he is calmer than he was the first time and more confident, more settled.”
Ah, groveling is the best. That is, when those doing the groveling before you know why they’re doing it. We know why they’re doing it. And they know we know why they’re doing it.
Meanwhile, the Trump Train rolls on.
