Mark Zuckerberg seems really anxious about an Elizabeth Warren presidency

Mark Zuckerberg.
(Image credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's latest comments about Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) may very well make their way into her next campaign ad.

The Verge published leaked audio Tuesday from two meetings between Zuckerberg and Facebook employees over the summer, with the Facebook CEO at one point expressing some anxiety over a Warren presidency and predicting the company will have to sue her administration if she's elected. Warren has called for breaking up major tech companies.

"I mean, if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge," Zuckerberg says. "And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don't want to have a major lawsuit against our own government ... But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Zuckerberg also tells employees that he's "worried" someone will try to "break up our company," although he expresses confidence that Facebook will prevail in a legal challenge because "there is the rule of law."

This is only one piece of the two hours of audio The Verge obtained, which also includes Zuckerberg repeatedly joking that he would have been fired long ago if not for his total control over Facebook. "[Having voting control of the company] was important because, without that, there were several points where I would've been fired," Zuckerberg says. "For sure, for sure."

Warren has already seized on Zuckerberg's comments, hitting back on Twitter by writing, "What would really 'suck' is if we don't fix a corrupt system that lets giant companies like Facebook engage in illegal anticompetitive practices, stomp on consumer privacy rights, and repeatedly fumble their responsibility to protect our democracy."

Explore More
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.