Staff Reports
Former President Donald Trump is once again turning the spotlight on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this time through a glossy coffee table book aptly titled Save America. In this new tome, Trump highlights a snapshot of him and Zuckerberg during a White House visit, which he uses as a launchpad to unleash a tirade against the tech titan. It seems Trump is not here for the handshakes and pleasantries; he’s more interested in calling out what he sees as Zuckerberg’s and the tech elite’s plot against him during the 2020 election, an event Trump continues to claim was riddled with fraudulent activity.
Trump reminisced about the time Zuckerberg graced the White House and spoke highly of the Facebook founder and his wife. However, it didn’t take long for the conversation to veer into the territory of conspiracy, as Trump explicitly linked Zuckerberg’s actions to the election, yanking up the infamous issue of ballot drop boxes. For those not in the loop, Zuckerberg championed the installation of these boxes to facilitate absentee voting amidst pandemic restrictions. Naturally, Trump utilizes this as ammunition in his ongoing narrative that the 2020 election was a rigged affair.
In his latest literary endeavor, Trump asserts that Zuckerberg’s past praise for him quickly morphed into betrayal, raising the stakes significantly. He ominously hints at legal repercussions for Zuckerberg and those he deems responsible, warning of prison time for “election fraudsters” in the upcoming 2024 presidential race. The more Trump vocalizes his disdain, the more the consequences for alleged election wrongdoers seem to escalate, veering dangerously close to a modern-day witch hunt against tech billionaires.
The timing of these revelations couldn’t be more pertinent as Trump zeroes in on the contentious issue of “Zuckerbucks,” the $420 million donation made by Zuckerberg and his wife to election centers. Critics argue these funds disproportionately benefited Democrat-dominated areas, further fueling Trump’s claims of a skewed election process. The donations, funneled through the Center for Tech and Civic Life, allowed Zuckerbergs’ influence to seep into how the election was conducted. Conservatives may see this as a clean-cut case of money corrupting fair electoral practices, and Trump takes every chance he gets to draw attention to this controversial maneuver.
Trump raged about ‘plot’ by Zuckerberg to topple him in 2020 in new book https://t.co/u18RWRpxaa
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 29, 2024
On a side note, Zuckerberg has taken a step back from the center of controversy, claiming he has distanced himself from CTCL and will cease campaign contributions of any sort. Yet, amidst all this, he recently conceded that succumbing to pressure from the Biden administration to suppress certain content was a misstep. Zuckerberg now expresses regret for the censorship surrounding COVID-19 discussions and for downplaying the infamous Hunter Biden laptop story, previously labeled as Russian disinformation. With every step he takes, it’s clear that Zuckerberg’s journey in the political arena has become one of navigating landmines, all while Trump continues to keep the focus squarely on him as his ultimate foil.
