Fast: You’re a billionaire tech CEO with arguably one of many greatest megaphones on the earth. You’ve had an up-and-down relationship with the incoming president of america who, amongst different issues, has threatened to ship you to jail for all times. Do you (a) use your platform to warn in opposition to stated president-elect‘s authoritarian tendencies and use your appreciable affect to strengthen organizations combating to uphold democracy, (b) hold your head down and hope for the very best, or (c) whip out the corporate checkbook and make it clear you’re ready to spend the following 4 years kissing ass such as you’ve by no means kissed ass earlier than? For those who’re Mark Zuckerberg, the reply is outwardly a convincing (c).
The Wall Road Journal reports that Zuckerberg’s Meta has donated a cool $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, the newest effort by the tech CEO to “bolster his once-fraught relationship with the incoming president.” To be clear, Meta and Zuckerberg don’t frequently give out political donations of this sort; in accordance with the Journal, neither Zuckerberg nor the corporate donated to Trump’s first inaugural fund or to Joe Biden’s fund in 2021. In the meantime, “federal campaign-finance experiences present Zuckerberg has supported congressional candidates in each events through the years and has largely stayed out of presidential races.”
However this time round issues are completely different. And by completely different, we imply that a few of the richest folks in america of America have determined that the easiest way to method Trump and the menace he poses to their corporations, their freedom, or each is to kiss the ring. Along with the $1 million donation, Zuckerberg—whom Trump has threatened with jail time on at the least two events—visited Mar-a-Lago final month to dine with the incoming president; earlier than the dinner, Zuckerberg, per the Journal, “did a personal demonstration for Trump of Meta’s Ray-Ban good glasses, which he gifted to the president-elect,” in accordance with folks acquainted with the matter. After Trump gained the election, the Meta CEO congratulated him on social media, and stated he was trying ahead to working collectively.
Zuckerberg is, in fact, removed from the one CEO to kowtow to the previous and future president. Following the election, Jeff Bezos—whose Washington Submit very conspicuously selected to interrupt with custom and never endorse a presidential candidate—praised Trump on “a rare political comeback and decisive victory,” and later stated he was “really very optimistic this time round.” And Elon Musk has successfully become a member of the family.
Even earlier than Trump’s November win, billionaires had signaled that they’d completely not be standing as much as the man, regardless of clearly believing him to be a menace. Invoice Gates reportedly donated roughly $50 million to a nonprofit that supported Kamala Harris’s run, making an attempt to take action in secret, and didn’t publicly endorse the VP. Equally, The New York Instances reported that Jamie Dimon, the sometimes outspoken CEO of JPMorgan Chase, “made clear” in personal that he supported Harris however selected to not announce his stance publicly out of worry that if Trump gained, he would “retaliate in opposition to the folks and corporations who publicly opposed his run.”
Hey, keep in mind when folks voted for Trump as a result of he was going to decrease the value of groceries?
Well…
Trump added that he “assume[s]” costs will come down, however, y’know, no guarantees!
It’s nearly as if Biden wasn’t antibusiness
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