David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and later advised Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial “Zuckerbucks” initiative in 2020, has joined Kamala Harris’s campaign team.
A report from early August noted Harris had recruited several senior Obama-era veterans, including Plouffe, which many believe has updated her messaging, particularly with a new emphasis on “joy.” This shift was evident at the recent Democratic National Convention.
Plouffe was involved with Zuckerberg’s nonprofit, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which donated $350 million to the Center for Technology and Civic Life’s Safe Elections Project, along with an additional $69.5 million to the Center for Election Innovation and Research. These contributions were supposedly aimed at making elections “safer” during the COVID-19 pandemic and were comparable to federal spending in the same area. However, analyses showed the funds were disproportionately allocated to Democratic-leaning counties in key swing states.
Zuckerberg had been urged to support election efforts after Democrats blamed Facebook for allowing supposed “misinformation” during Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and subsequent victory. On Monday, Zuckerberg acknowledged the public’s perception of his 2020 donations and admitted that the Biden-Harris campaign had pressured Facebook to censor certain content. In response to criticism, Zuckerberg has pledged not to repeat those donations for the 2024 election.
Given Plouffe’s role in advising Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the controversial “Zuckerbucks” initiative in 2020, his involvement with Harris’s campaign is seen as a red flag for 2024 election integrity concerns.
