Zuckerberg millions won't be part of mid-term elections, says it was a 'one-time' thing
A rep for Zuckerberg said the 2020 funds were 'a one-time donation'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A representative for Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the Facebook CEO will not make another multi-million dollar donation to aid this year’s elections, which comes after fierce pushback that Zuckerberg’s 2020 contributions tilted the outcome of the presidential race toward President Biden.
"As Mark and Priscilla made clear previously, their election infrastructure donation to help ensure that Americans could vote during the height of the pandemic was a one-time donation given the unprecedented nature of the crisis," Ben LaBolt, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, said. "They have no plans to repeat that donation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zuckerberg and Chan donated at least $350 million to the nonprofit Center for Technology and Civic Life ahead of the 2020 election, which was distributed to local election offices. The nonprofit said that this year, it will instead launch a different program dubbed the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at a conference in San Francisco on April 12, 2016. (Reuters)
The program is an $80-million, five-year effort intended to create a network for the nation’s thousands of local election officials, who can apply for aid to improve their technology and processes, the Associated Press reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Unfortunately, years of underinvestment means many local election departments often have limited capacity and training. The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence is bringing together world-class partners so that local election officials no longer have to go it alone," said Tiana Epps-Johnson, CTCL’s executive director.
Conservatives have slammed Zuckerberg and Chan’s donation ahead of 2020 as helping sway the presidential election in President Biden’s favor.
Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that, "while it's good news that Zuckerberg won't meddle in this year's elections, he's not the only left-wing tech oligarch who can finance these left-wing groups."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The left-wing Center for Technology and Civic Life, run by Obama political veterans, has already admitted it plans to continue its takeover of government election offices in swing states using the same grant model it deployed with Zuckerberg funding in 2020," she continued. "These grants enabled these left-wing activists to essentially run the entire Democrat Get-Out-The-Vote operation from inside the government. States that care about election integrity need to protect their systems from control by the world's wealthiest and most powerful individuals."
FILE - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan arrive at the 7th annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the NASA Ames Research Center on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018, in Mountain View, Calif. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, or CZI, which runs the philanthropy of the couple, announced Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, that it is investing up to $3.4 billion to advance human health over 10 to 15 years, according to a spokesperson for the organization. (Photo by Peter Barreras/Invision/AP, File) (AP)
Hemingway has long sounded the alarm on Zuckerberg's donations, telling Fox News' Tucker Carlson in October, "This is crazy that it was allowed to happen."
"So he [Zuckerberg] spends about as much money as the federal government does in running our 2020 elections. He gives $419 million to two left-wing groups who then funnel the money primarily to Democrat counties in swing states," she said, highlighting the donations were more than $400 million.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It enabled "this army of left-wing people to come in and handle everything … they target[ed] registration to Democrat communities, they translate[d] ballots, they design[ed] ballots," she said.
In reaction to Zuckerberg’s donations, at least eight GOP-controlled states have passed laws banning private donations to election offices, including in Florida.
FILE PHOTO: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the welcome segment of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S. February 26, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo (Reuters)
"We banned Zuckerbucks," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in October of 2021.
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"Now they did put some money into Florida, not as much as they did in like Texas or Pennsylvania or some of that, but that is now banned. Elections should be administered by these offices, not by private tech moguls coming in and basically commandeering the machinery of the elections. So I think that we’ve taken a lot of action. We had a good election," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.