Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., is rumored to run for US President in 2020 elections. The rumors heightened when Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan hired Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster, adviser to former President Barack Obama and chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as a consultant for their joint philanthropic project, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Along with Joel Benenson, they hired a number of people involved in previous administrations and campaigns. These include David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama's 2008 presidential run; Amy Dudley, former communications adviser for Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Ken Mehlman, director of President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign; and Charles Ommanney, a photographer for both the Bush and Obama presidential campaigns.
Along with the hirings, Mark Zuckerberg started a yearlong tour around the 50 states of the United States in what he called "listening tour". On the tour he has been meeting with leaders, voters, and constituents, in general.
Although Zuckerberg has denied in the past any presidential aspirations, many believe he is seriously considering the 2020 run. Being worth more that $76 Billion, he also has the means to finance the run.
Based on his past positions and associations, he may run as a democrat, at least like Bernie Sanders, who was an independent. One of his position that puts him closer to Bernie Sanders is the idea of universal basic income, that he emphasized during his May 25, 2017 Harvard commencement speech. He said: "We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like [gross domestic product], but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful... We should explore ideas like universal basic income to give everyone a cushion to try new things."
With his FWD.us launched in 2013, he has been vocal in supporting Dreamers, under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), by "mobilizing the tech community to promote policies that keep the U.S. competitive in a global economy, starting with fixing our broken immigration system and criminal justice reform." DACA is the US immigration policy created under President Obama's administration in June 2012, to allow certain illegal immigrants who entered the country as minors, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
In February 26, 2016, Mark Zuckerberg defended "Black Lives Matters" movement by writing to Facebook employees, that "I was already very disappointed by this disrespectful behavior before, but after my communication, I now consider this malicious as well," and that " 'Black lives matter' doesn't mean other lives don't. It's simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve."
In March 2017, Mark Zuckerberg attended a church service at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., which attacked by a white supremacist and terrorist in 2015.
If he runs, Mark Zuckerberg is expected to get the support of young people, like President Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders did, the minorities, including Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians, and like President Obama, he may end up being among the most popular US political figure in the World.
There are already rumors that current US President Donald J Trump may be seriously considering Mark Zuckerberg as his next opponent.
