Donald Trump threatens to send Mark Zuckerberg to prison if he is elected
REUTERS/Marco Bello, REUTERS/Carlos Barria
- Donald Trump vowed to imprison 'election fraudsters,' including Mark Zuckerberg, if re-elected.
- The feud between Trump and the Meta CEO dates back to Trump's presidency.
- Trump was temporarily banned from Facebook after the Capitol Riots.
Donald Trump doesn't want Mark Zuckerberg to forget about their long-running beef.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, the former president said "election fraudsters" would be imprisoned if he gets elected in November. The post name-checked the Meta CEO.
"They have no shame! All I can say is that if I'm elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time," Trump said.
"We already know who you are. DON'T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!" he added.
Trump made the threat in a post about the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, more commonly known as the SAVE Act. The proposed legislation would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
It follows a February 2023 Truth Social post in which Trump accused the Facebook founder of cheating in the election, linking to a Fox News report that said Zuckerberg's $2 million donation to a Georgia election board was being investigated.
"Why isn't he being prosecuted?" he said at the time. "The Democrats only know how to cheat. America isn't going to take it much longer!"
There is no evidence that Zuckerberg's past donations were partisan.
The likelihood of Trump getting elected is looking stronger each day. Trump is leading Biden in many national and battleground polls after the president stumbled through a disastrous debate, which was marked by verbal slip-ups and incoherent sentences.
Trump's beef with Zuckerberg
The pair's feud goes back several years to Trump's presidency.
In June 2020, Zuckerberg said he was "deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump's divisive and incendiary rhetoric" after Facebook was criticized for allowing the then-president to make violent remarks on the platform.
Trump was ultimately banned from using Facebook following the Capitol Riots, where violent pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C, on January 6, 2021. It resulted in multiple injuries and five deaths.
In a statement at the time, Zuckerberg said the company believed that "the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great."
The ban was lifted in January 2023.
In September 2022, Trump made confusing statements about his relationship with Zuckerberg at a rally.
He said the Facebook founder has joined him at The White House for dinner "last week," despite being out of office for more than a year at that point.
"Last week, the weirdo — he's a weirdo — Mark Zuckerberg came to the White House, kissed my ass all night," Trump said.
"'Sir, I'd love to have dinner, sir. I'd love to have dinner. I'd love to bring my lovely wife,'" he said, mimicking the supposed conversation.
Representatives for Zuckerberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.