Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg faced the ire of the mainstream media and numerous Democrat presidential candidates when he announced earlier this month that his platform would not fact-check politicians and political ads on its site.
Liberals started calling for “regulation” (aka censorship) to prevent Facebook from allowing free speech on its site. However, that doesn’t mean that Zuckerberg is a secret conservative who is privately supporting President Donald Trump. Zuckerberg and his wife, it appears, have picked a favorite Democrat without much fanfare. In fact, they have already gotten in touch with this candidate’s campaign to offer advice on potential campaign hires.
Pete Buttigieg’s campaign spokesperson Chris Meagher has confirmed the news that Zuckerberg and Mr. Zuckerberg’s wife has recommended candidates for the campaign to hire. Of the recommendations, two were chosen to work with the Buttigieg presidential campaign. One is now the senior digital analytics advisor, and the other is an organizing data manager. Buttigieg’s campaign has sought to dismiss the hoopla surrounding the story by stating that the campaign gets recommendations on potential staff members on a regular basis. However, the campaign spokesperson failed to note if the campaign acts on these recommendations in the same manner as it did when Zuckerberg made his hiring suggestions.
The exchange between Zuckerberg and the South Bend mayor has highlighted information that the mainstream media has conveniently chosen to ignore. First of all, Buttigieg and Zuckerberg have been friends for a long time. Buttigieg was one of the first 300 people to get on Facebook; furthermore, he spent a great deal of time with Zuckerberg when the social media mogul toured South Bend back in 2017.
Even more importantly, Buttigieg presents himself as the sort of “business-friendly,” moderate Democrat that Zuckerberg would want to support. Unlike many other Democratic presidential candidates, Buttigieg isn’t condemning Facebook for allowing political ads to be displayed on the site without a partisan fact-checker. He also isn’t calling for the break-up of large tech companies.
The hiring recommendations aren’t the only indication that Facebook would be very happy if Mayor Pete won the Democratic primary and the general election next year. Facebook employees have already donated nearly $24,000 to Pete Buttigieg’s campaign in the first half of 2019. The donations aren’t just coming from rank and file employees, but also company elite. David Marcus, the head of Facebook Messenger, has donated to Buttigieg’s campaign. Maz Sharafi, the global head of marketing for Facebook-owned WhatsApp, has done the same, as has WhatsApp’s Vice-President of Policy and Communications Victoria Grand.
Other tech giants in the nation are following Facebook’s lead, enabling Mayor Pete to raise a substantial amount of money in a short period of time. So, while he may not be getting the airtime enjoyed by former Vice President Joe Biden or Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Buttigieg is still able to bankroll his campaign.
Naturally, there’s nothing inherently wrong with having friends in high places — but this cozy friendship can make or break the entire Democratic primary. The influence of Facebook cannot be understated, and Zuckerberg himself has admitted that Silicon Valley has a clear progressive bias. And, no matter what he does, the hard left that feels Facebook isn’t doing enough will call for the company to be broken up regardless. Really, the only winner here is Buttigieg…
