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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg promoted his company’s post-election pivot during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last week, where Silicon Valley’s oft-criticized censor shifted focus to defending free speech and masculinity.
“It’s one thing to say we want to be kind of like welcoming and make a good environment for everyone,” Zuckerberg said, “and I think it’s another to basically say that ‘masculinity is bad.’”
Reflecting on cultural trends, Zuckerberg said:
“I just think we kind of swung culturally to that part of the spectrum, where you’re like, okay, masculinity is toxic, we have to get rid of it completely. It’s like, no, both of these things are good, right? You want feminine energy, you want masculine energy. I think you’re going to have parts of society that have more of one or the other. I think that’s all good. But I do think corporate culture sort of had swung towards being this somewhat more neutered thing.”
Zuckerberg noted how his embrace of martial arts has influenced his perspective. The Facebook founder shared with Rogan in 2022 that he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu after the pandemic lockdowns.
“I didn’t really feel that until I got involved in martial arts, which I think is still a much more masculine culture,” he said. “Not that it doesn’t try to be inclusive in its own way, but I think there’s just more of that energy there.”
Speculation on Political Allegiances
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance speculated last fall that Zuckerberg might secretly support conservative policies.
“My secret theory is that Zuck is now a Trump supporter, but he can’t say that publicly, of course,” Vance said in his own appearance on Rogan’s podcast shortly before the election. “But hopefully he is.”
Rogan added, “Zuckerberg has gotten really into mixed martial arts, he’s gotten really into jiu-jitsu and really into training, and there’s very few things that will turn you into a conservative more than martial arts.”
The discussion turned to studies linking testosterone levels with conservative views. Vance highlighted research connecting hormonal changes to shifts in political preferences, including a 2021 study showing a “red shift” among weakly affiliated Democrats with elevated testosterone.
Criticism of the Biden Administration and Meta’s Shifts
Zuckerberg also criticized the Biden administration, particularly its alleged efforts to coerce social media companies into censoring content.
“I don’t think that the [government] pushing for social media companies to censor stuff was legal,” Zuckerberg said, claiming Meta faced government retaliation whenever it resisted such requests.
“It was brutal,” he added, describing the pressure on his company.
Meta recently announced it would cease fact-checking operations ahead of the Republican administration’s inauguration. Zuckerberg also revealed that Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a Trump supporter, had joined Meta’s board of directors.
“We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth, but the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.,” Zuckerberg said.
However, critics remain skeptical, pointing to past assurances Zuckerberg made to Congress about resisting election interference while continuing to allow politically motivated censorship.
