Mark Zuckerberg is going all out to rehabilitate his image with Donald Trump and his supporters.
Semafor was the first to report that Nick Clegg, the company’s president for global affairs, would be departing after several years at the helm.
A former British deputy prime minister, Clegg was one of the most prominent public faces of the company’s aggressive censorship regime against Trump and the MAGA movement in the wake of the January 6th protesters.
Clegg will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, who served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under George W. Bush.
According to Semafor, Kaplan “has been one of the most forceful voices inside Meta against restrictions on political speech, arguing internally that such policies would disproportionately mute conservative voices.”
The report continues:
The shift, three weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration, comes as US companies are embracing the president-elect, courting his inner circle, and backing away from progressive stances many had embraced in recent years.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — whom Trump previously threatened to jail — dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November and congratulated the president-elect on his win, one of many big tech executives to do so.
Meta’s political operation is now well placed for a Republican-dominated Washington: Its just-elevated vice president of global public policy, Kevin Martin, was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President George W. Bush, and its general counsel, Jennifer Newstead, was the top legal adviser to the Trump State Department from 2017 until joining Meta in 2019.
In a statement, Zuckerberg said he was thankful for Clegg’s contributions to the company.
“I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Meta and the world these past seven years,” Zuckerberg said. “I’ve learned so much working with you and our whole team is better for having this opportunity.
“You’ve made an important impact advancing Meta’s voice and values around the world, as well as our vision for AI and the metaverse,” he continued. You’ve also built a strong team to carry this work forward.”
“I’m excited for Joel to step into this role next given his deep experience and insight leading our policy work for many years.”
Last month, it was revealed that Zuckerberg had agreed to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund following their meeting at Mar-a-Lago.
Is Mark Zuckerberg Joining Team MAGA? Facebook Founder Meets with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Despite bankrolling liberal causes and censoring conservative publications including The Gateway Pundit, Zuckerberg has recently tried to distance himself from his past left-wing advocacy.
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this year, Zuckerberg admitted that Trump’s response to the assassination attempt against him was one of the most “badass” things he had ever seen.
“Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said at the time.
“On some level as an American, it’s like hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that that’s why a lot of people like the guy,” he continued.
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