Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he doesn’t intend to play a “significant role” in the 2024 election, choosing not to endorse either President Biden or former President Trump.
“I’ve personally done some things in the past,” Zuckerberg said. interview Speaking with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, he said, “I’m not going to do that this time. I’m not endorsing either candidate.”
His comments contrast with those of other prominent tech figures who have supported Trump in recent weeks.
Billionaire Elon Musk formally endorsed the former president shortly after he was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally last weekend.
Several former Democratic donors, including Palantir adviser Jacob Helberg and Sequoia Capital partner Sean Maguire, have also voiced their support for Trump, joining a growing group of conservatives in traditionally Democratic Silicon Valley.
While Zuckerberg said he would not endorse either candidate, he seemed impressed by Trump’s response to the assassination attempt, describing it as “incredible.”
“Seeing Donald Trump stand up after getting shot in the face and raise the American flag and pump his fist in the air was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life,” he told Chang.
“In some ways, as an American, it’s hard not to identify with that spirit and that fighting spirit, and I think that’s why so many people like him,” Zuckerberg added.
Mehta’s decision to stay out of politics this quarter comes as the parent companies of Facebook and Instagram are also moving away from political content on their platforms.
Instagram announced in February that it would no longer actively recommend political content, and users would have to adjust their settings if they wanted to continue receiving political content recommendations.
“What we hear most often from people is that they would prefer less political content on our service, because they come to us to connect with people,” Zuckerberg said. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”
“We give people the ability to control this, but we try to generally not recommend political content,” he continued. “So we expect our service will play a smaller role in this election than in past years.”
