David Plouffe, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and advised Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial “Zuckerbucks” effort in 2020, is now advising Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
A report in early August noted that Harris had brought several senior Obama veterans on board, including Plouffe. Many observers noted that Harris’s message improved remarkably from that point, including the emphasis on “joy” as a way to explain her odd laugh, and as a central focus of the party at the Democratic National Convention last week.
Plouffe advised Zuckerberg’s nonprofit organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, when it gave “$350 million to the “Safe Elections” Project of the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) and another $69.5 million to the Center for Election Innovation and Research.” That amount rivaled total federal government spending to make elections safer during the coronavirus pandemic. Analyses suggested funds were concentrated in Democratic counties in swing states.
Zuckerberg had been pressured to contribute to the effort after Democrats blamed him for Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, arguing that Facebook had allowed misinformation and memes by Russian troll farms to circulate on its site.
In a letter this week, Zuckerberg acknowledged the public impression that “Zuckerbucks”
#ICYMI ⤵️ https://t.co/ENl68IcKV1
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) August 27, 2024
Zuckerberg reiterated a 2022 promise not to repeat his donations in the 2024 election, given bad public impressions.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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