Most of Donald Trump’s supporters aren’t buying Big Tech’s attempts to suck up to the president, according to nationwide poll results exclusively obtained by The Post.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Big Tech bosses have launched a charm offensive since Trump won the White House – flocking to his January inauguration, making trips to the Oval Office and scrapping fact-checking operations that had been accused of anti-conservative censorship.
However, 54% of Trump voters – and 70% of voters overall – believe the moves are part of a cynical ploy to sway the president to embrace Big Tech policy positions, according to a survey conducted by the watchdog group Tech Oversight Project and Public Policy Polling.
As far as the tech CEOs themselves, Zuckerberg was deemed the most unlikeable, with 63% of Trump voters disapproving of him, versus 74% of voters overall.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos drew dislikes from 53% of Trump voters versus 67% overall.
Google’s Pichai drew a 52% disapproval rating from Trump voters (55% overall), while OpenAI’s Sam Altman got 34% (50% overall) and Apple CEO Tim Cook 44% dislikes (33% overall), according to the poll.
“Not only are Americans consistently distrustful of Big Tech CEOs, but even Trump voters reject their new MAGA act – and in fact support policies like a Big Tech Tax to rein them in,” said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, only 7% of respondents said they trust Big Tech CEOs to make decisions on policies likely to affect the everyday lives of Americans, while 52% of respondents said they trusted federal and state governments to take the lead on the issue.
According to the survey, 72% of respondents support the concept of a “Big Tech tax” aimed at ensuring the companies pay their fair share for initiatives that impact the public, such as increased strain on power grids from energy-guzzling AI data centers.
60% of Republicans support a Big Tech tax while just 21% are against it. Additionally, 86% of Democrats and 70% of independents were in favor.
Big Tech’s efforts to sway Trump have intensified during a time in which the companies are scrambling to shape federal AI regulations – and as several, including Google, Meta and Amazon, face antitrust lawsuits and congressional investigations with the potential to upend their businesses.
“Holding Big Tech companies accountable continues to be a political winner, and Congress should take note that the American people overwhelmingly support an agenda that stops Silicon Valley executives who are recklessly endangering kids, crushing small and innovative businesses, and skyrocketing home energy costs on families,” Haworth added.
Trump has appointed antitrust hawks to lead key agencies — including Gail Slater as the DOJ’s antitrust chief and Andrew Ferguson as chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
The survey was conducted on June 3and 4 and polled a total of 541 voters.
