Mark Zuckerberg Image by Getty Images

By Josh Nathan-Kazis April 17, 2017

Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is on a cross-country barnstorming tour that looks a bit like a wind-up for a 2020 presidential campaign.

A BuzzFeed profile published today of the CEO notes that Zuckerberg’s journey is being carefully curated by a photographer who once worked for Barack Obama and a Facebook PR team.

But the article finds that Zuckerberg isn’t likely putting together a presidential run.

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“In fact, the listening tour is looking less like a presidential gambit and more like a focus group,” writes the profile’s author, Nitasha Tiku. “Zuckerberg is not talking to military spouses about the defense budget or veterans’ affairs. He’s not talking to Mother Emanuel church congregants about domestic terrorists and hate crimes. He’s talking to them about the importance of community and, by extension, about Facebook.”

Is it corporate PR or politics? In the Trump era, could it be both?

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com

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