Leaked memo shows Mark Zuckerberg defending Peter Thiel's right to support Trump

[midian182]

Despite publicly supporting Donald Trump’s bid to become president for quite some time, Peter Thiel’s recent $1.25 million donation to the Republican candidate's campaign angered many in the tech world. But the PayPal co-founder has found a surprising ally in Mark Zuckerberg.

The Facebook CEO sent out an internal company post defending the actions of Thiel, who is one of the social network’s board members. Despite publicly attacking Trump over his position on immigration and plan to build a wall between the US and Mexico, Zuckerberg said: "We can't create a culture that says it cares about diversity and then excludes almost half the country because they back a political candidate."

"There are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism, sexism, xenophobia, or accepting sexual assault," he added.

The memo first appeared on Hacker News, where it was captured in a photo rather than a screenshot. Its authenticity has been confirmed by Facebook to The Verge. The memo seems to have been posted to the enterprise version of the social media platform - formerly known as Facebook For Work, now called Workplace - which recently came out of beta. It’s not known who took the photograph.

Zuckerberg’s words echo those of Y Combinator president Sam Altman. Thiel is a part-time partner at the start-up incubator, which has already seen one nonprofit stop working with it for not removing the Trump supporter.

“Thiel is a high profile supporter of Trump. I disagree with this. YC is not going to fire someone for supporting a major party nominee,” Altman tweeted.

Before Theil’s donation, the tech industry had donated almost $8 million to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, while Donald Trump received just $300,000.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/66750-leaked-memo-shows-mark-zuckerberg-defending-peter-thiel.html

 

[davislane1]

This means two things.

1. Zuckerberg's status has been downgraded from Pure Evil to Mostly Evil.

2. Trump is your (our) next POTUS.

 

[Uncle Al]

I think you'll be disappointed at prediction #2 ..... I could be wrong, but fallout from his supporters continues and his own party has all but abandoned him. I certainly DO NOT LIKE the alternatives and still ask for a 3rd choice of "NONE OF THE ABOVE" on every ballot. Certainly, we can do a lot better than either of these clowns. Despite all the hype, it isn't the press or any other single source of blame. it is a combination of many different things starting with the real and honest motivation to be the President. Bernie Sanders probably had the most sincere intentions, but he simply could not mount the necessary response against "big money". As long as the Supreme Court continues to strike down election reforms, the White House will continue to be occupied by he or she that can raise the most cash .....

 

[Skyyy]

For an employee, the rule is usually that you can support whichever candidate you want. However, if you repeat certain statements made by Trump disparaging a race, religion, or gender, you may be disciplined for creating a hostile work environment. I believe that a member of the board of directors should be held to a higher standard, though.

Thiel has lamented that women are voting and electing candidates he doesn't like. That's not acceptable either.

 

[davislane1]

For an employee, the rule is usually that you can support whichever candidate you want. However, if you repeat certain statements made by Trump disparaging a race, religion, or gender, you may be disciplined for creating a hostile work environment. I believe that a member of the board of directors should be held to a higher standard, though.

Thiel has lamented that women are voting and electing candidates he doesn't like. That's not acceptable either.

Your double-standard is noted.

 

[yRaz]

You're free to support whoever you want and no one has the right to tell you otherwise. I am not a trump supporter, but if someone wants to support him that is their right as an American citizen.

If someone supports trump trade that does not make them a racist.

If someone supports Hillary on healthcare that does not make them a feminist.

see where I'm going with this? I think both candidates are very flawed and the idea that anyone aligns with them 100% is just absurd.

 

[MoeJoe]

You're free to support whoever you want and no one has the right to tell you otherwise. I am not a trump supporter, but if someone wants to support him that is their right as an American citizen.

If someone supports trump trade that does not make them a racist.

If someone supports Hillary on healthcare that does not make them a feminist.

see where I'm going with this? I think both candidates are very flawed and the idea that anyone aligns with them 100% is just absurd.

Clinton is a crook ... has nothing to do with healthcare (directly) or feminism.
You either condone lies, deceit and corruption or you don't.
That is an easy choice. Admitting your moral standing appears to be 'not so easy'.

 

[yRaz]

Clinton is a crook ... has nothing to do with healthcare (directly) or feminism.
You either condone lies, deceit and corruption or you don't.
That is an easy choice. Admitting your moral standing appears to be 'not so easy'.

Aside from the fact that Trump has been a friend of the Clintons going back to the 80's and his only purpose as the nominee is to throw the election to make it easier for Hillary to win. The whole idea that a vote for Trump is a vote against corruption is foobar.

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

Thiel is a high profile supporter of Trump. I disagree with this. YC is not going to fire someone for supporting a major party nominee,

Nobody should be getting fired over ANY candidate they are supporting. This article feels more clickbait than newsworthy.

 

[psycros]

"Despite publicly attacking Trump over his position on immigration and plan to build a wall between the US and Mexico"

Protecting your nation from criminals, disease, negative wage pressure and stealth jihadists is apparently "xenophobia" now.

 

[psycros]

I think you'll be disappointed at prediction #2 ..... I could be wrong, but fallout from his supporters continues and his own party has all but abandoned him. I certainly DO NOT LIKE the alternatives and still ask for a 3rd choice of "NONE OF THE ABOVE" on every ballot. Certainly, we can do a lot better than either of these clowns. Despite all the hype, it isn't the press or any other single source of blame. it is a combination of many different things starting with the real and honest motivation to be the President. Bernie Sanders probably had the most sincere intentions, but he simply could not mount the necessary response against "big money". As long as the Supreme Court continues to strike down election reforms, the White House will continue to be occupied by he or she that can raise the most cash .....

It won't matter if an independent raises a billion $$ for advertising and outreach as long as 90% of the media is in the Democrat's corner. If Trump wins it will be a protest vote from all the Americans who are fed up with the propaganda. Furthermore, despite everything he's said and done he would STILL be a better president than Clinton, who's done far, far worse to far more people. Where's NBC's shocking report on the Clinton Foundation, perhaps the greatest pay-for-play scandal in US political history? Nowhere, that's where.

 

[wiyosaya]

You're free to support whoever you want and no one has the right to tell you otherwise. I am not a trump supporter, but if someone wants to support him that is their right as an American citizen.

If someone supports trump trade that does not make them a racist.

If someone supports Hillary on healthcare that does not make them a feminist.

see where I'm going with this? I think both candidates are very flawed and the idea that anyone aligns with them 100% is just absurd.

Clinton is a crook ... has nothing to do with healthcare (directly) or feminism.
You either condone lies, deceit and corruption or you don't.
That is an easy choice. Admitting your moral standing appears to be 'not so easy'.

They are both crooks who belong in jail.

 

[wiyosaya]

For an employee, the rule is usually that you can support whichever candidate you want. However, if you repeat certain statements made by Trump disparaging a race, religion, or gender, you may be disciplined for creating a hostile work environment. I believe that a member of the board of directors should be held to a higher standard, though.

Thiel has lamented that women are voting and electing candidates he doesn't like. That's not acceptable either.

If he were a woman lamenting men voting and electing candidates she did not like, he would be called a Femminazi.

I agree that a CEO should be held to a higher standard, but it seems like many of today's CEOs think that the world would cease to exist without them. This emboldens them and makes them feel as if they should be allowed to control their employees even when the employee is not on company time. When a CEO outright supports viewpoints that are considered racist and misogynist, that creates a hostile work environment from the top down. Since it is so far removed from the grunts of the company, there is likely little that the grunts can do about it other than look for employment elsewhere. It appears that in some states, company exces can pressure employees to vote for the execs' candidate with no legal consequence. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics...-fire-you-if-you-dont-vote-for-romney/263709/

 

[mojorisin23]

Wow... I have a memo defending Thiel's right as well.... its called the CONSTITUTION.

 

[MoeJoe]

Aside from the fact that Trump has been a friend of the Clintons going back to the 80's and his only purpose as the nominee is to throw the election to make it easier for Hillary to win. The whole idea that a vote for Trump is a vote against corruption is foobar.

Lock her up. Oh wait ... your FOR lies, deceit and corruption.

And hang on to your hats, the Wiki keeps on leaking.

 

[yRaz]

Lock her up. Oh wait ... your FOR lies, deceit and corruption.

And hang on to your hats, the Wiki keeps on leaking.

there is no "Oh, wait". Trump is a Hillary pawn and has been since 80's. He didn't take the nomination expecting to win, he took it away from the GOP so that they didn't have a chance of running a good candidate against Hillary.

Regardless of all of that, you're free to vote for who ever you want. I'm just not voting, Hillary is going to win in a landslide if she cheats or not.

 

[matrix86]

Cue Peter Griffin: "Oh my god, who the hell cares?" Seriously...why should I care who a CEO or anyone else is supporting? You wanna support Trump, then do it. You wanna support Hillary? Then do it. It's not gonna make any difference in my life who someone is supporting. Why is this news? Why is this news on a tech site? There is nothing in this article about new or old technology, no devices or video games, not even a whisper of "the government is snooping on you" or nothing about streaming, downloading, or DMCA notices........so why is this article here? Slow news day? I get enough politics on my news feed, I don't want to come here and get more.

 

[Waxinator]

After viewing a lot of easily available videos regarding the Clinton's involvements in domestic drug trafficking and international affaires and about Hillary's background, bad temper and frequent upfront lies, I too would vote for the second worst candidate Trump !!!

 

[MonsterZero]

"There are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism, sexism, xenophobia, or accepting sexual assault,"

Oh really? Please do tell me what are those reasons?

Trump is literally a 5 year old child that bitches and moans and says it's unfair when he doesn't get his way.

 

[davislane1]

Oh really? Please do tell me what are those reasons?

Trump is literally a 5 year old child that bitches and moans and says it's unfair when he doesn't get his way.

The only two that matter:

1. The wall.

2. Cooperation with Russia instead of confrontation.

 

[bluto 2050]

For an employee, the rule is usually that you can support whichever candidate you want. However, if you repeat certain statements made by Trump disparaging a race, religion, or gender, you may be disciplined for creating a hostile work environment. I believe that a member of the board of directors should be held to a higher standard, though.

Thiel has lamented that women are voting and electing candidates he doesn't like. That's not acceptable either.

women and men often vote stupidly like all democratic voters ,Obama and a lot of democratic office holders are are living proof of that , I dont know the gender voting stupid breakdown though .

 

[bluto 2050]

Oh really? Please do tell me what are those reasons?

Trump is literally a 5 year old child that bitches and moans and says it's unfair when he doesn't get his way.

The only two that matter:

1. The wall.

2. Cooperation with Russia instead of confrontation.

Right Obama and Clinton are so incompetent they may stumble us into WWIII or (as usual ) or be asleep at the wheel to more devastating terrorist attacks or much worse than that from an enemy state Obama went on an apology tour to .Liberal Democrats are usually totally ignorant of the world as it is .

 

[Scshadow]

Interesting. The thousands of people that reacted and not one of them gave an irrational angry face? They had to have photo shopped it. I've seen angry faces in response to far far less volatile subjects. All these people in power are posers. They can't let something as benign as an angry face reaction be left up. Only positive reactions.

 

[Tanstar]

"There are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism, sexism, xenophobia, or accepting sexual assault,"

Oh really? Please do tell me what are those reasons?

Trump is literally a 5 year old child that bitches and moans and says it's unfair when he doesn't get his way.

Supreme Court nominees and 2nd Amendment rights are the reasons I'm still considering him. That and Clinton being one of the few people I think would make a scarier President than Trump. I'll likely vote for the Libertarian, just hoping he gets enough votes that they have to include them in the next elections' debates in four years. The two party system is killing us.

 

[MoeJoe]

Oh really? Please do tell me what are those reasons?

Trump is literally a 5 year old child that bitches and moans and says it's unfair when he doesn't get his way.

Really dude? Does Gramps come in your safe space often?