Elizabeth Warren called out Trump's private dinner with Mark Zuckerberg as 'corruption, plain and simple'
- When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in Washington D.C. for a Congressional hearing this past October, he made time for a private dinner with President Donald Trump.
- The dinner included Facebook board member Peter Thiel - a controversial investor and entrepreneur who cofounded PayPal and Palantir. He was also behind the legal actions that led to the shutdown of Gawker.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren called out the previously unreported dinner as "corruption, plain and simple" in a tweet on Thursday.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren came out swinging at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and President Donald Trump in a tweet on Thursday.
"Amid antitrust scrutiny, Facebook is going on a charm offensive with Republican lawmakers. And now, Mark Zuckerberg and one of Facebook's board members - a major Trump donor - had a secret dinner with Trump," she said. "This is corruption, plain and simple."
Warren's criticism comes in response to news that Zuckerberg and Trump met for a private dinner while the Facebook CEO was in Washington D.C. last month.
"This is how the government keeps working for giant corporations and the wealthy and well-connected," she said. "It's no wonder that companies like Facebook have been allowed to consolidate economic and political power without any real accountability."
NBC News reported on Thursday that Trump and Zuckerberg had dinner in October, which was previously unknown. Facebook confirmed the report.
In addition to Trump and Zuckerberg, Facebook board member and controversial investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel was also part of the dinner.
Thiel cofounded PayPal and Palantir, and more recently, was behind the lawsuit that shut down Gawker. He's been a longtime Facebook board member, and was an early investor in the company. He's also an outspoken Libertarian and Trump supporter.
This isn't the first time Zuckerberg and Trump have privately met - the two had a surprise meeting in September 2018 when Zuckerberg was in D.C. meeting with lawmakers on behalf of Facebook.
It's unlikely to be the last time they'll meet, as Facebook faces scrutiny from government regulators for a variety of things: Controversy around political ads on its social media services, the introduction of a new currency named Libra, and various antitrust concerns.
