Zuckerberg who once banned Trump from Meta, calls him 'badass' after surviving assassination bid

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called Donald Trump 'badass' and inspiring after the former United States president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt before raising his fist and mouthing 'Fight, fight, fight', to the public gathered to see him during a Republican rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

Zuckerberg, whose company Meta banned Trump from all its social media platforms in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection attempt, waxed lyrical about the former president, without endorsing him. 

“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,” Meta CEO told Bloomberg in an interview.

“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.”

Trump, however, may not be flattered by Zuckerberg's statements as he recently said he had not forgiven Meta or its founder for their actions. The former president has called Facebook the "enemy of the people" and said he preferred to use his platform Truth Social to communicate with his followers. 

The billionaire added that he was "not planning" to endorse either Trump or his rival Joe Biden in the upcoming elections. 

Watch | US Presidential Elections | Joe Biden or Donald Trump: Who is favoured?

Less political content on Meta

As for his social media site, Meta, Zuckerberg said his company was making changes to ensure people saw less political content on it.  

“The main thing that I hear from people is that they actually want to see less political content on our services because they come to our services to connect with people," said the Meta CEO. 

“I think you’re going to see our services play less of a role in this election than they have in the past.”

Also read | Elon Musk throws his weight behind Donald Trump with 'sizeable' donation

While Zuckerberg trudged a careful line, his compatriot, Tesla and X CEO, Elon Musk, openly came in support of Trump after the events of July 13. 

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X, which he owns. 

The Tesla CEO, who has been siding towards the GOP lawmakers in the last few years, reportedly made a sizeable donation to Trump's presidential campaign in recent days as well. 

(With inputs from agencies)