Zuckerberg’s interview with Joe Rogan: remind me again, who are the fascists?
Wow:
… [T]his really hit the most extreme, I’d say during the Biden administration when they were trying to roll out the vaccine program. Yeah, I’m generally like pretty pro-rolling out vaccines. I think on balance the vaccines are more positive than negative.
But I think that while they’re trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who is basically arguing against it, and they pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly were true, right? I mean, they, they basically pushed us and said, you know, “Anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you basically need to take down.”
And I was just like, well, we’re not gonna do that. Like we’re we’re clearly not gonna do that. I mean that that that that is kind of inarguably true.
JOE ROGAN: Who’s telling you to take down things to talk about vaccine side effects?
MARK ZUCKERBERG: It was people in the Biden administration.
And there’s also this:
HOLY SHLIT. Mark Zuckerberg says the Biden admin called his employees and “screamed and cursed” at them to take down Covid/vaccine content. They wanted Meta to censor memes too.
When he pushed back, the Biden regime started investigating his companies.
“It was brutal.” pic.twitter.com/rNwZtoq0hO
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 10, 2025
Zuckerberg seems to be positioning himself as the victim here rather than as a coward caving to the government; Facebook certainly did cooperate to a significant extent with the administration’s censorship demands. Too bad he wasn’t a total profile in courage, but how many people are? The Biden administration knew how to engender fear, and it was clear they were willing to use lawfare against anyone unwilling to cooperate with their dictates.
My sense is that, after his experience with the Biden crew, Zuckerberg is genuinely happy – at least for the moment – at the prospect of Trump becoming the next president.
“Facebook certainly did cooperate to a significant extent with the [Biden] administration’s censorship demands.”
And under President Harris, would anything have changed?
Types of lawfare that would possible be used: Antitrust Lawfare, Regulatory Lawfare, Litigation Lawfare, Legislative Lawfare, Diplomatic/International Lawfare (example: ‘Supporting the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), which impose stricter rules on tech companies operating globally’), and Public Accountability Lawfare.
ChatGPT’s summary:
In the “Judge Merchan unconditionally discharges Trump’s sentence in the “hush money” case” post – Dax on January 11, 2025 at 1:31 pm:
In Facebook’s case – the Rule of Law was being used as a spear against a business.
Even tho Trump experienced lawfare – GOP voters witnessed it, I doubt anything will be done to stop the use of lawfare…even if it could be stopped.
My sense is that, after his experience with the Biden crew, Zuckerberg is genuinely happy – at least for the moment – at the prospect of Trump becoming the next president.
–neo
I think this is true of many Democrats. Indeed some of them voted for Trump this past November.
Not to forget that Trump, Musk, Gabbard, and RFK are all ex-Democrats.
Which is not to say all these ex-Dems have seen the light and will pull the R-lever forevermore. But it’s a change and the Woke spell has been broke.
Well, I must say that what strikes me about his statement is that Zuck cannot speak English in the manner one might expect of a mature, educated adult.
This suggests that those dreary hours in English class were a complete waste. Assuming that they all speak in the same style, a META executive meeting must be a hoot.
The part about the activities of the Biden ‘thought police’ is less surprising. It simply confirms suspicions.
Too bad he wasn’t a total profile in courage, but how many people are?
In this case, Elon Musk springs to mind. Whether you love him, hate him, or feel ambivalent about him, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t stood up to those in power and risked much in doing so. I suspect that Zuckerburg feels a bit humbled by Musk and perhaps even a bit envious. When powerful people in the government demand that you to do something, even if you know it’s wrong, it can be hard to say no.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, the leftists screaming “fascist!” about Trump were failing to look in the mirror, or deliberately lying.
Nazi propaganda frequently harped on an Allied nation (allegedly) doing something just as they were starting it themselves.
Re: Profiles in Courage.
Love him or hate him, Trump gets a chapter in that book … if Ted Sorensen were still alive to ghostwrite the update.
My read is that tech CEOs are businessmen first and Dem activists a distant second, if at all.
I think they know a Trump economy will be better for them, but if a Democrat is in power, it will be better for them to kiss that ring and sing in the choir.
The Dems lost and it looks like they will stay lost. So now the CEOs will kiss Trump’s ring.
_____________________________________
It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.
–“The Godfather”
At no time since 1945 has liberty been under a more severe threat in the occidental world. You see it in Germany, in Britain, in Canada, and here. Democratic voters are content with these abuses.
They call Trump a bully, but what Trump actually does is demand a debate in the open for all to see. Progressives are the petty thugs that deliver blows behind closed doors and then claim the victim fell down and hit something.
And anti-semitism is on the rise in all the countries listed by Art Deco.
We are witnessing the rise of the new and international Nazi Party, “officially the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism.” [quote from Wiki]
Called “far right” despite its name including socialistic [“sozialistische”]
when that is Left-wing by its declaration. Wiki is Leftist, socialist, so no surprise, but many do not know that.
Just prior to that, Zuck invoked the yelling fire in a theater, the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes quote on a 1919 espionage case/act by the federal government. Part of this is the modern term of “misinformation.” I hate that word, now a buzzword.
Holmes and the Supreme Court stated not that such an utterance was illegal, but taken in context with WWI, it was.
Yeah, war destroys our liberties, especially in the 20th Century. The Supreme Court then was not a check. Just sayin. Just like earlier regarding slavery. But anyways. Yeah, federal judges are partisan … hello Roberts.
Of course, such … ok … I’lll say it as a non lawyer … utter, disgusting “reasoning” was overturned later in the 20th
Zuckerberg was one of the people most responsible for getting Biden elected in 2020, with all of the Zuckerbucks getting spread around heavy D voting areas in places like Philly. You reap what you sow.
@ Nonapod > “In this case, Elon Musk springs to mind.”
One of the commenters at the RCP post said the same thing:
PS/OT: In another comment at RCP, I noted an instance of the misuse of words and phrases that we discussed earlier this week.*
I’m having trouble deciphering what word the writer was looking for, or (to be fair) how spell-check might have mangled something to get “mirage” in that context.
Possibly “a myriad of reasons” was meant, but that has problems of its own.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/cmon-of-course-myriad-is-a-noun
*Maybe we could call it a “Spell Check on the Green” —
https://thenewneo.com/2025/01/10/judge-merchan-unconditionally-discharges-trumps-sentence-in-the-hush-money-case/#comment-2781896
@ Jimmy >”You reap what you sow.”
And Karma always dances with the one that brung her.
AesopFan, in the phrase “a myriad of reasons,” myriad functions as a noun, doesn’t it?
The commenter almost certainly meant, “a myriad of reasons.”
Grammatical, or not, I have heard that phrase stated many times. Although I like the concept of, “a mirage of reasons.” As in, “Alvin Bragg indicted DJT for a mirage of reasons.”
Knowing what we do of the Covid Fake Vax cover up, I would think in the high %90 of Zuckerberg’s employees were all in on it and happy to shoot down any criticism.
Of course the Nazi party is called “far-right” in Wikipedia. Wiki is a bastion of leftwing propaganda. Fascism was designed as a refinement of socialism by Mussolini. It’s always been a leftwing ideology.
Way too many people regard Wiki as the same as the (occasionally Leftist) Encyclopedia Brittanica, or perhaps the Bible.
Wikipedia is usually okay on anything not adjacent to politics or fandom, but as the Internet gets older, more and more things get swallowed up in politics or fandom. On math and physics, in my experience, it’s usually reliable but rarely accessible enough to be helpful to most people.
People can change. Maybe for Zuck it’s because he’s currying favor, maybe it’s because got hit with reality.
Who knows? Truly, who knows? Yes, he appears to be rebranding so as to not get targeted by the federal government and that maybe a response because it just happened to him and his company.
But, maybe he got slapped in the face one too many times by the federal government gloved hand.
I am listening to the Joe Rogan podcast right now.
What’s interesting is that Joe Rogan is denigrated as a right winger, but he is a hippy pot smoking dude that gives voice to anyone, Dem, Repub, left, right, conspiracy theorist, astrophysicist, whatever.
Isn’t that a good thing? To explore intellectually everything and allow assertions to be voiced and countered?
What’s interesting is that Joe Rogan is denigrated as a right winger, but he is a hippy pot smoking dude that gives voice to anyone, Dem, Repub, left, right, conspiracy theorist, astrophysicist, whatever.
Dmixhaud:
You get Rogan! I find it so funny that he is now considered a right-winger.
Rogan was a Democrat, a Bernie Bro, a psychedelic advocate. Democrats say they are now looking for their Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan was their Joe Rogan until they drove him away with their woke madness.
“…genuinely happy…”
Yeah…but ONLY because he and his companies will no longer be rolled by the “Biden” administration after he dared say “NO” to them once or twice.
+ Bonus—Dynamite assessment of the Liberal-Left disaster:
Take back the Night(TM), Australian edition…
“‘Smug’ Justin Trudeau’s downfall a warning for Anthony Albanese after the Canadian PM reaped the destructive rewards of progressive politics”—
https://tinyurl.com/mpwzu6m8
H/T Blazingcatfur blog
Oldflyer on January 11, 2025 at 3:29 pm said:
Well, I must say that what strikes me about his statement is that Zuck cannot speak English in the manner one might expect of a mature, educated adult.
“Well, yeah, …, but, … like… you know… uummm ugh … right!! … you are correct.”
I suspect all of the valley girls grew up and became administrators and “thought leaders” at
the education schools and colleges that Art Deco has been citing as a core societal problem.
I wouldn’t want to go one-on-one with Zuckerberg.
He speaks in the manner of his generation, his morals are … um, flexible, but he is one smart SOB.
He didn’t inherit his empire from someone else. He built it in the face of immense competition as the internet took off.
I don’t like him. I don’t respect him. But he is no fool and I respect him for that much.
Gateway Pundit is taking Zuck’s conversion with a shaker-full of sale.
I’m accepting the transcription at face values, as I have not listened to the interview.
Plus, Jimmy is right to remind us of the Zuckerbuck bias, and there is little doubt that the staff of Meta/Facebook is largely (if not completely) left-Democrat, which could not happen without some degree of approval and/or direction from the Boss.
I agree with huxley that Zuck is no fool, and what he actually believes, or agreed with, or fought against (for a while) is still up for discussion with the current lack of solid evidence.
However, a business mogul trimming his sails to the current political wind is not new, and is likely related to whatever he and Trump talked about.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/tomorrow-watch-joe-rogan-demolishes-mark-zuckerberg-when/
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/khhadwon.png?w=900
MEME Zuckerberg would still be fact-checking if Kamala Harris had won.
@ Kate > “myriad functions as a noun, doesn’t it?”
That’s what I have always understood, and the article I linked agrees.
@ Rufus T. Firefly > “I like the concept of, “a mirage of reasons.” As in, “Alvin Bragg indicted DJT for a mirage of reasons.” ”
Agreed, and I’m going to look for places to use it!
Another vote for “mirage of reasons”. I feel that it is incredibly poetic.
I’m with Jimmy and AesopFan.
It’s heartening that Zuck seems to be making an honest mea culpa and pointing his finger in the right direction. But I’ll reserve any trust until we see more proof.
The 2020 election/Zuckerbucks scandal was funded through the Chan/Zuckerberg Initiative. I have wondered who exactly is Priscilla Chan? How far to the right will she let Mark go (he said with only a touch of facetiousness)?
Zuck has been training in BJJ, and fight sports are a great way to connect with reality. That’s probably why Trump is so popular with UFC fans. It helps to push you in a more based direction.
I’ll also note that the typical response of business is to go along with government. The exceptions tend to be those at the small end where the owners have well established political beliefs. Public companies always seem to fold.
Kate on January 11, 2025 at 4:02 pm said:
Throughout the 2024 campaign, the leftists screaming “fascist!” about Trump were failing to look in the mirror, or deliberately lying.
—————-
It’s simpler than that. They just don’t know what the word “fascist” means. They believe it to mean “anyone we feel is evil”, and don’t equate it with any sort of censorship. Furthermore, they don’t feel censorship is bad or even considered censorship when they do it–it’s just forbidding people from having a voice who don’t deserve to have a voice (in their minds).
It’s like the term “far-right” which they use to label anyone they consider “bad”. I’ve seen Kim Jong Un, who leads the most Communist country that ever was, labeled as “far-right” by legacy media when it was rumored that trump invited him to the inauguration.