Mark Zuckerberg declines to endorse Biden or Trump
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has opted not to endorse either President Biden or former President Trump, saying he does not plan to play a “significant role” in the 2024 election.
“I’ve done some stuff personally in the past,” Zuckerberg said of his previous political involvement in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang. “I’m not planning on doing that this time, and that includes not endorsing either of the candidates.”
His remarks stand in contrast to other prominent tech figures who have embraced Trump in recent weeks.
Billionaire Elon Musk officially endorsed the former president shortly after he was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally last weekend.
Several former Democratic donors, such as Palantir adviser Jacob Helberg and Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire, have also come out in support of Trump, adding to a growing cohort of conservatives in traditionally deep blue Silicon Valley.
Despite declining to endorse either candidate, Zuckerberg appeared impressed by Trump’s reaction to the assassination attempt, describing it as “badass.”
“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,” he told Chang.
“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,” Zuckerberg added.
The Meta CEO’s decision not to get involved in politics this cycle comes as the Facebook and Instagram parent company also seeks to move away from political content on its platforms.
Instagram announced in February that it would no longer proactively recommend political content. If users still want to receive recommendations for political content, they have to adjust their settings.
“The main thing that I hear from people is that they actually want to see less political content on our services because they come to our services to connect with people,” Zuckerberg said. “So, that’s what we’re going to do.”
“We give people control over this, but we’re generally trying to recommend less political content,” he continued. “So, I think you’re going to see our services play less of a role in this election than they have in the past.”