The ever-brilliant Kara Swisher recently began referring to Mark Zuckerberg as the “Susan Collins of the Internet” in response to Zuckerberg’s inaction about Trump’s clearly dangerous posts on Facebook. I love this framing, and here’s why:
Susan Collins, the senator of Maine since 1996 (the year I was born), prides herself on being an independent, sober thinker within a hot-tempered Republican Party. Her record, though, paints an entirely different picture.
In 2016, she declared she would not be voting for Donald Trump, and yet over the past 4 years she has continually empowered him at the most critical moments. She personally opposed tenents of the Republican tax bill, yet voted for it anyway. She derides the denigration of women, but voted to confirm Bret Kavanagh. She has come to occupy a fantasy moral highground by voicing strong personal objections yet voting against her own positions when politically inconvenient. For this reason, Susan Collins generally polls as the least popular member of the Senate.
Which is what makes Kara Swisher’s comparison to Mark Zuckerberg so perfect.
On Saturday, discussing Trump’s comments in a Facebook post, Zuckerberg writes: “Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric.” 24 hours later, according to a report in Axios, Trump called Mark Zuckerberg on the phone. Faced with an incredible opportunity for Zuckerberg to use his clout with the Presdient, he “didn’t make any specific requests”.
It’s important to call out that Zuckerberg is in complete control over Facebook and, uniquely among any other CEO, cannot be ousted by the Board of Directors or investors. This makes his inaction so utterly dissapointing. Zuckerberg has abdicated all responsibility of leadership despite having the privilege, opportunity, and personal interest to do something. For this reason, he is just as worthy of my disrespect as America’s most unpopular senator.
