Former US President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently claimed that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called him to apologize for past actions and pledged not to support Democratic candidates. In an interview with Fox News, Trump detailed the conversation, asserting that Zuckerberg expressed admiration for his actions and commitment, stating, “Mark Zuckerberg called me recently. First of all, he called me a few times. He called me after the event and he said, ‘That was amazing, it was very brave.’”
Trump further claimed that Zuckerberg assured him he would not back a Democrat in the upcoming elections, citing a change of heart as a result of his respect for Trump’s stance. “He announced he’s not gonna support a Democrat because he can’t because he respected me for what I did that day,” Trump said.
In the same interview, Trump also leveled criticism at Google, accusing the tech giant of censoring news and images related to him. He expressed frustration over the alleged difficulty in finding information about a failed assassination attempt on him on July 13 through Google’s platform. “Google has been very bad. They’ve been very irresponsible, and I have a feeling that Google might be on the brink of being shut down because I don’t think Congress is going to tolerate it. I don’t think so. Google needs to be careful,” Trump asserted.
Google has refuted Trump’s allegations of censorship. The company explained that its autocomplete feature’s failure to provide predictions for searches related to the assassination attempt was due to outdated systems designed to protect against political violence, not deliberate censorship.
These statements come amidst ongoing debates over tech company influence and their roles in political discourse, highlighting the tensions between major tech platforms and prominent political figures.
