Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg complained Monday night that he had been offended by former President Joe Biden’s suggestion that he is an oligarch and blamed the erstwhile commander-in-chief for destroying support for Democrats in Silicon Valley, according to a Fox News host.
Brian Kilmeade recounted meeting the “unbelievably authentic” Zuckerberg at the post-inauguration Liberty Ball during Tuesday morning’s Fox & Friends broadcast.
He said the two discussed Meta’s recent “new direction,” which has been defined by a series of MAGA-friendly overtures, including the appointment of President Donald Trump’s pal Dana White to the company’s board and the announcement of plans to eliminate fact-checking on its social media platforms in the United States.
Kilmeade also said that Zuckerberg told him “how insulting it was to be called an oligarch by President Biden.”
In a farewell address last week, in which he did not name Zuckerberg, Biden cautioned against a wave of “extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy.“
His words came at a time when powerful tech billionaires including Zuckerberg, Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos, and Apple CEO Tim Cook have variously worked to earn Trump’s favor with donations and pilgrimages to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Biden warned of an emergent, uberwealthy “tech-industrial complex.”
According to Kilmeade’s recollection, Zuckerberg dismissed the former president, telling him “for those people in Silicon Valley that were Democrats, Joe Biden has blown that up.”
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kilmeade wasn’t the only Fox News host to hold a chinwag with Zuckerberg at the ball last night—Bret Baier posted a photo of himself posing with the social media magnate on his Instagram account.
Baier said he invited the CEO to appear on his show.
