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Trump campaign senior advisor Brad Parscale is 'stepping away' from the campaign. He was hospitalized over the weekend after threatening self-harm. https://ift.tt/2GdZOfL J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
Brad Parscale, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, announced he was "stepping away" from the campaign on Wednesday, Politico reported. "I am stepping away from my company and any role in the campaign for the immediate future to focus on my family and get help dealing with the overwhelming stress," Parscale said in the Wednesday statement. The announcement comes after Parscale was involuntarily detained by police this weekend after his wife called 911 and said he pulled out a firearm and threatened to harm himself. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department said in a statement to Business Insider on Sunday that Parscale was the only person inside the home at the time and "had access to multiple firearms inside the residence and was threatening to harm himself." He was detained under the Baker Act, which allows for the involuntary hospitalization of those considered a threat to themselves or others for psychiatric evaluation. Police officers confiscated 10 guns from his home and his wife Candice told police that Parscale has post-traumatic stress disorder. She said he turned violent in recent weeks. Candice showed officer bruises on her arms and face, which she said she got in another altercation days earlier. "While speaking with Candace Parscale [sic] I noticed several large sized contusions on both of her arms, her cheek and forehead," one responding officer wrote in the report. "When I asked how she received the bruising, Candace Parscale stated Brad Parscale hits her." However, on Wednesday, Candice told Politico in a statement that Parscale didn't physically abuse her and claimed her statement to police was "misconstrued." "The statements I made on Sunday have been misconstrued, let it be clear my husband was not violent towards me that day or any day prior," she said. On Tuesday, a judge authorized Fort Lauderdale police to seize the guns in his home, Politico reported. In July, Parscale was replaced by Bill Stepien as Trump's campaign manager. The demotion came after months of trouble inside the president's reelection campaign. "We extend our thanks for everyone's thoughts and support during this difficult time for our family and we eagerly await all of the facts emerging," the Parscales said in a statement to Politico.
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 30, 2020 at 11:15PM
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Glassdoor launches employee reviews for diversity and inclusion practices at companies https://ift.tt/30ogDvo Glassdoor is now letting employees write diversity and inclusion reviews for companies in a way to make employers more transparent. Employees will be able to rate and review companies on how they treat employees based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other underrepresented groups. In a poll, Mill Valley, California-based Glassdoor, which has ratings on more than a million companies, found that job seekers and employees trust the employees already working at a company when it comes to understanding the state of diversity and inclusion at a company. Glassdoor said that 76% of job seekers and employees today report that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. The company said these new features are part of its public commitment to leveraging its product and resources to help achieve equity in and out of the workplace. The Glassdoor survey was conducted by The Harris Poll. It found that job seekers and employees report that disparities still exist within companies with respect to experiences with and perceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. The company undertook the effort after this year’s racial unrest. “In recent months, many of Glassdoor’s more than 50 million users have been telling us they want more insight into what the current state of diversity & inclusion is like at a company,” Scott Dobroski, spokesman for Glassdoor, wrote in an email. “Then, after the murder of George Floyd, we saw employee reviews talking about diversity, racial justice, and related topics rise by 63% on Glassdoor.” Because of this, the company knew people wanted more data. “We believe we have a responsibility as a platform and as an employer to help drive equity in society, and we can help to create more equitable workplaces,” Dobroski said. Job seekers and employees also say they want to work at companies that truly value diversity and inclusion as part of their culture. The survey shows that nearly half of Black (47%) and Latinx (49%) job seekers and employees have quit a job after witnessing or experiencing discrimination at work, significantly higher than white (38%) job seekers and employees. In addition, 32% of job seekers and employees today say they would not apply to a job at a company where there is a lack of diversity among its workforce. This is significantly higher for Black job seekers and employees (41%) compared to white job seekers and employees (30%). “Glassdoor publicly committed to leveraging its product, resources and platform to help drive societal change toward equality at scale,” Dobroski said. Diversity & Inclusion rating
Above: Glassdoor’s D&I ratings are now available. Image Credit: Glassdoor This rating is Glassdoor’s sixth and newest workplace factor that allows employees to rate how satisfied they are with diversity and inclusion at their current or former company, based on a five-point scale. The rating will appear alongside the five existing workplace factor ratings. While the product was in stealth mode, employees across 12 companies started to rate their satisfaction with their company’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). So far, Salesforce has the highest D&I rating among this group according to its employees, with a 4.6 rating. Other companies currently rated in terms of their employee satisfaction with D&I include: Google: 4.4, Accenture: 4.2, Amazon: 4.1, Apple: 4.0, Deloitte: 4.0, Facebook: 4.2, McDonald’s: 3.7, Starbucks: 4.1, Target: 4.1, Uber: 3.6, and Walmart: 3.7. More than 4,000 employees have rated their companies so far. Demographic information
Above: Employees have the option of describing their demographic info on Glassdoor. Image Credit: Glassdoor Glassdoor now enables U.S.-based employees and job seekers to voluntarily and anonymously share their demographic information to help others determine whether a company is actually delivering on its diversity and inclusion commitments. Glassdoor users can now also provide information regarding their race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, parental status, and more, all of which can be shared anonymously through their Glassdoor user profile. Glassdoor will soon display company ratings, workplace factor ratings, salary reports and more, broken out by specific groups at specific companies. This information will equip employers with further data and insights to create and sustain more equitable workplaces. Sharing demographic information with Glassdoor will be optional and displayed anonymously. Diversity FAQ across companiesGlassdoor is also debuting a new Company FAQ resource, offering a list of the most popular questions job seekers ask about companies, including a section dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Responses to the FAQs are taken from the employee reviews appearing on Glassdoor. The tool provides easier access to relevant reviews about D&I at specific companies. According to the Glassdoor survey, 63% of job seekers and employees say their employer should be doing more to increase the diversity of its workforce. But significantly more Black and Latinx job seekers and employees feel this way (71% and 72% respectively) than white job seekers and employees (58%). Business via VentureBeat https://venturebeat.com September 30, 2020 at 11:00PM Thinking Of Writing A Book To Grow Your Business? Five Questions To Consider Before You Dive In9/30/2020
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Thinking Of Writing A Book To Grow Your Business? Five Questions To Consider Before You Dive In https://ift.tt/2GdQI2C Since I wrote my book The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, many entrepreneurs have asked me if publishing their own book will help them take their business to the next level. Some hope it will attract new business or speaking opportunities. Others want it to become the basis for a new product, such as a course. I usually tell them it depends. A book can be very helpful in growing a business, but not always. Before you dive in, it’s important to give it serious thought. Writing and polishing book requires more time and effort than most people think, whether you work with a commercial publisher or self-publish. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to balance that against other demands on your time—like running your business. Many entrepreneurs write books to build their businesses--but there are sometimes easier ways to ... [+] reach their goals. It's important to know what you're getting into before you start. gettyMany entrepreneurs want to write books to grow their businesses. It's important to know what you're ... [+] getting into before you start. gettyHere are five questions to consider if you would like to write a book to grow your business. 1. Why are you writing it? The most successful authors are generally self-motivated. Even if your spouse, friends, employees, investors or mentors have been begging you to write something, they’re not the ones who will be tapping away at 5 am to make it happen. You will. Make sure you are truly ready to do the work before you begin. Even if you bring in a ghostwriter, you still will need to make time to collaborate, probably every week. Which brings us to another important question... 2. How much time do you have to devote to it? Generally speaking, it takes at least six months to write a book and typically at least a year, whether you write a book yourself or bring in a professional writer to help you. Most entrepreneurs, in my experience, don’t work on a book full time. They have to fit it in between work, family and their other activities. That can be challenging, especially in an economy like the current one. If you have any other big projects going on, like a product launch, or are in the middle of major life changes, like getting married or having a baby, it’s best to wait until you can make the book your number one focus for the year. A book is going to take up a lot of “head space” – usually more than people think – and it’s hard to juggle it with other big undertakings. 3. Are you familiar with what other authors are writing about your subject matter—and can you move the conversation forward? Most of us want other people to read our books. It will be much easier to attract readers with a book that covers new ground on a relevant subject than with one that’s an overview of what’s been said before. You’ll know you’re ready to write your book when you can explain what makes it different in a sentence or two. It can take some time to figure that out, and your book will be more successful if you allow for that. 4. Is the book you envision about your readers? Being an author is a little like being a party guest. Readers will enjoy the experience more if you’re focused on them. The more you can strike a balance between expressing yourself and entertaining and informing your readers, the more successful your book will be. Think of it as a conversation, not a monologue, which few writers can pull off successfully. 5. Are you willing to promote it? It’s a lot more fun to write a book that gets people talking, writing to you, blogging about it, and inviting you onto podcasts than one that no one but your nearest and dearest have read. Making this happen requires some effort, usually by building your social media presence, developing an email list or through other means, like hiring a publicist. The earlier you start, the better, as this can take time. Sometimes, authors delay doing this, because they fear it will involve brash self-promotion. There’s actually no need to take the “me, me, me” approach. Simply by sharing information that’s helpful and relevant to your audience, such as great articles or videos you’ve come across, can go a long way toward building a following, especially if you commit to doing it once a day. You’ll be surprised at how a small and incremental effort can pay off. But like every other aspect of writing a book, you’ve got to be willing to actually do it. If you are disciplined, you’ll have a good shot at bringing it over the finish line. And, if you’re lucky, you may find that your book takes on a life of its own, bringing you into contact with more opportunities and like-minded people than you ever knew were out there. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs https://ift.tt/2YlOx3y September 30, 2020 at 10:26PM
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Trump administration move could slash wages for over 200,000 farm workers https://ift.tt/34gz5XI Brent Stirton/Getty Images
Migrant farm workers are already some of the lowest-paid laborers in the United States. Now the Trump administration is enacting a change that organizers and policy experts say will further lower the wages of more than 200,000 people. In a notice published Wednesday, the US Department of Agriculture announced that it no longer intends to collect data on the money paid to those who keep Americans fed. Ostensibly, that's because there are other sources for the information, which the federal government uses to determine the mandated rate of pay for workers on H-2A work visas, who make up about 10% of the agricultural workforce. But critics maintain there's an ulterior motive: relying on those other sources of wage data will result in lower wages for the vast majority of agricultural employees. Indeed, the Trump administration did not deny a report earlier this year that it was working to do just that, purportedly to aid an agriculture industry hurting from COVID-19 — drawing the ire of US Sen. Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate, who called the plan "inexcusable." "Many farm workers are already vastly underpaid and doing backbreaking work to put food on our tables," she wrote in April. "They deserve a raise — not a pay cut." Today, migrant farm workers make, on average, just under $13 an hour, a rate that varies by region. By failing to conduct its traditional Agricultural Labor Survey, such workers could instead be paid just the minimum wage — in Georgia, one of the top producers of everything from watermelon to tomatoes, that's as low as $5.15 an hour. In Florida, home to some 47,000 commercial farms, migrant laborers would see their wages slashed to $101 per week, according to Farm worker Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group. "These are already some of the poorest workers in this country," Elizabeth Strater, an organizer with the United Farm Workers union, told Business Insider. Guestworkers, she said, could see their income reduced by thousands of dollars each growing season (H-2A workers typically remain in the US for around six months at a time). But they won't be the only ones affected. Farm workers are considered "essential" by the Trump administration, which despite a record of xenophobia has increasingly welcomed H-2A visa holders, even making it easier for the agriculture industry to hire them during the pandemic. But it has not provided any additional protections or money commensurate with the sacrifice of these laborers, instead directing some $36 billion in aid to their employers. Brent Stirton/Getty Images "This administration is using 'essential' as a euphemism for 'disposable,'" Strater maintained. "Families have sent their children or spouses into this country to keep our food supply intact," only to see them infected with and dying from COVID-19, she said, their loved ones unable to retrieve their bodies. One study found agricultural workers, compared to other industries, were three times as likely to contract the disease. "Do you know how brutal that is? Not just a lack of compensation — they don't even get them back in a coffin," Strater continued. "That's the context for this." Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the center-left Economic Policy Institute, told Business Insider that "scrapping the survey before it's completed for the year gives them the excuse to use another data source for 2021 and beyond." And that, in practice, would mean reducing what are already some of the lowest wages in any sector, at a time when these workers are risking their health not only during a pandemic but an extended wildfire season that led the West Coast to experience some of the worst air quality in the world. "The justification has never been better for higher rates," Costa said. "And when you consider the billions and billions that farmers have gotten in government subsidies and aid, even just this year, it's pretty hard to argue that they can't afford to pay a decent living wage." The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Have a news tip? Email this reporter: [email protected]
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 30, 2020 at 09:27PM
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3 Steps To Help You Build Entrepreneurial Confidence https://ift.tt/3n85MiM If you are eager to start a startup but not ready yet, there are a few steps you can take that will ... [+] give your startup a head start, even if you still don’t have a startup idea. Follow these three steps. gettyIn theory, building a successful startup is simple. All you have to do is build a product people need. In practice, this simple startup success formula can raise hundreds of questions starting with, how do I know what people need? The reality is, not every entrepreneur is ready to answer this question right now. I believe that all entrepreneurs go through an observation stage, during which they immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial journey before they begin their ventures. This pre-execution stage is not necessarily a research or education phase. It’s living the life of an entrepreneur through the eyes of other founders. In it, we read, observe, dream and feel the entrepreneurial excitement that naturally pushes us to take action. If you’re eager to start a startup but not ready yet, there are a few steps you can take that will give your startup a head start, even if you still don’t have a startup idea. Follow these three steps. 1. Interview Anyone You Can Learn From One of the first stages of every new startup is a research phase. In it, you study the market and existing players to identify untapped opportunities and start forming your hypotheses about how you can solve those problems. Interviewing the founders of the leading startups in your space is not only an opportunity to get inspired by new success stories but also, it’s a rare opportunity to ask potentially your future competitors about the market, customers and their needs. If you know the space you are interested in, put a list and reach out to suppliers, sellers, influencers, experts, founders and virtually anyone you can learn from, including customers. Even if you don’t have an industry in mind, interviewing entrepreneurs, learning how they identified and captured their opportunities and asking them how you could do the same is the best investment you can make in this research and observation stage. Every interview is an opportunity to build and nurture a new relationship. Those connections will play a significant role in your startup, whether you need guidance, partners, co-founders, customers, referrals, employees, or funding. 2. Share Your Journey Create a blog to post the interviews and the lessons you learned along the way. The blog will help you build an audience. If you share value consistently, by the time you launch your product, you will have a group of customers and supporters ready to try your solution and help you spread the word. Sharing your journey through a blog will also help you reach new interviewees. It will help you build credibility and trust. More importantly, it will keep you accountable, which will give you a sense of responsibility to your audience and connections. Every published conversation is a step forward. Those steps will quickly add up to a giant leap forward. 3. Ask Your Connections With an audience and numerous opportunities to ask your interviewees, you can come up with startup ideas and run validation tests before building your product. Whether you are targeting businesses or consumers, one way you can test if buyers are interested in your product is by pre-selling your solution. If you approach a stranger with an idea or a prototype and ask for their commitment, you may get instantly rejected. If you approach an audience you are connected with, even if they are not interested, they will take the time to share their feedback and reasons. In conclusion, notice how the three steps above, which are designed to help you build entrepreneurial confidence, are exactly what every entrepreneur needs to do to build a successful startup. Understanding the market, speaking with key stakeholders, running validation experiments and involving the customer in the journey is how you can identify untapped opportunities and understand what people need. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs https://ift.tt/2YlOx3y September 30, 2020 at 09:22PM
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Twitter took down a network of 130 fake accounts in Iran that tried to spread disinformation during the US presidential debate https://ift.tt/2Sg9GIq Filip Radwanski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Twitter said in a tweet Wednesday that it had taken action against approximately 130 fake accounts, likely based in Iran, that attempted to spread disinformation during the US presidential debate on Tuesday. "Based on intel provided by the @FBI, last night we removed approximately 130 accounts that appeared to originate in Iran. They were attempting to disrupt the public conversation during the first 2020 US Presidential Debate," Twitter's safety team said. In a small sample disclosed by Twitter on Wednesday, the accounts posted content both supporting and opposing President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, as well as questioning the political affiliation of debate moderator Chris Wallace. —Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 1, 2020 Twitter said it identified and removed the accounts "quickly" and that they ultimately "had very low engagement and did not make an impact on the public conversation." The company has already shared details with other companies to alert them to potential cross-platform threats and said it will release additional details about the accounts and content once its own internal investigation is complete. Iran is one of several countries the US intelligence community is monitoring for potential foreign election meddling through social media and other online disinformation campaigns. National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina issued a statement in August saying that, by his office's assessment, Iran "seeks to undermine US democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections." "Tehran's motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump's reelection would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change," he said. Microsoft also released a report in early September finding that Iran had stepped up its hacking activities and had targeted Trump campaign officials. But even as Trump, along with political appointees and Republicans loyal to him, have sought to shift the focus around election meddling to China and Iran, most US intelligence officials and experts believe Russia is a substantially larger threat. Earlier this month, Brian Murphy, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, filed an explosive whistleblower complaint claiming that he was told to suppress intelligence about Russian election interference and instead look into China and Iran.
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 30, 2020 at 09:03PM
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American Airlines to begin furloughs for thousands of workers on October 1, but says it will reverse layoffs if Congress reaches deal on COVID-19 relief https://ift.tt/3cJC5Qm Joe Raedle/Getty Images
—davidshepardson (@davidshepardson) September 30, 2020
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 30, 2020 at 08:09PM
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Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says any bipartisan stimulus deal will include more $1,200 direct payments for Americans https://ift.tt/33hqK71 Reuters
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday evening that any stimulus agreement will contain a second round of $1,200 direct payments to American taxpayers. In an interview on Fox Business, Mnuchin reiterated the Trump administration's opposition to the $2.2 trillion economic aid plan that Democrats are pressing and said they prioritized getting people back to work. But the Treasury secretary said an agreement was struck with Speaker Nancy Pelosi that an economic relief package will include federal checks for individuals. "We have reached an agreement that if there is a deal, there are direct payments similar to last time that are in the package," he said. Mnuchin also said the White House was seeking to provide more federal aid to small businesses, schools, and additional funds to coronavirus testing and tracing as well. "If there is a fair compromise, we're prepared to do it," he said, adding, "there are a lot of areas where we have an agreement on." Mnuchin's comments signal that the White House may be making progress with Democrats on another economic aid package. On Wednesday, he met with Pelosi on Capitol Hill for the first time since talks collapsed in August. The pair have been negotiating for four days. Still, if a last-minute deal is reached between Democrats and the White House, it's unclear whether Republicans in the Senate would back a plan likely carrying a price tag that's $1.5 trillion or above. Many GOP senators oppose spending proposals that grow the federal debt. Lawmakers have approved over $3 trillion in federal aid since the pandemic began devastating the economy in the spring. A "skinny" relief plan from Republicans including only $300 billion in new spending sparked significant opposition within their party earlier this month. It omitted stimulus payments to keep its cost down. Democrats initially prepared a Wednesday evening House vote on their $2.2 trillion spending package. But they pushed it back until Thursday in hope of allowing more time for an agreement with the White House, CNN reported. It's unlikely the Democratic plan will become law given staunch GOP opposition. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tore into the Democratic plan on Wednesday, saying it was "outlandish" and the amount was "too high." In March, Congress and Trump approved $1,200 stimulus checks for many American adults plus an additional $500 per child under the age of 17 through the CARES Act. Individuals qualified for a full payment when they earned below $75,000 a year. For married couples, the threshold was $150,000. Trump has long backed sending another wave of direct payments.
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 30, 2020 at 07:33PM
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Democrats and Republicans clash over whether Amy Coney Barrett should recuse herself from election decisions if confirmed to the Supreme Court https://ift.tt/3kTyEJW Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Democratic Senator Cory Booker on Sunday said he plans to meet with President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and see if she's willing to recuse herself from election-related decisions. "One of the things I want to ask her is will she recuse herself in terms of any election issues that come before us because if she does not recuse herself, I fear that the court will be further delegitimized," said Booker, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Booker cited concerns about Trump's refusal to say whether he'll accepting the election results if he doesn't win and claims that the only way he will lose the election is if it's "rigged." "President Trump has said, 'I will not accept the result of the election unless I win. I'm going to push it to the Supreme Court and, oh by the way, during the election, I'm going to put somebody on the court as well,'" Booker said. Indicating that he hopes to have a "good, informed dialogue" with Barrett, Booker also urged Republicans to wait until the election is over to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. —Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 27, 2020 When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to take his seat. But Garland didn't get a floor vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. With the election just over a month away, top Republicans plan to begin confirmation hearings for Barrett on Oct. 12 — with an eye toward getting her nomination greenlit by Nov. 3. Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois also spoke in favor of Brett recusing herself from any decision around the election results. "I certainly wish she would, it would help matters," Durbin said Sunday in an interview with ABC's "This Week." "And it would evidence the fact that she wants to be fair in addressing this." But Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, wouldn't comment about whether Barrett should recuse herself from cases regarding the election. "Judges and Supreme Court Justices have a well-defined set of rules that helps guide their determination in making recusal decisions. I'm not going to purport to speak for what she ought to do with regard to her recusal. I have every confidence that she'll make the right decision," Lee said in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "You have no problem with the idea a president nominating someone 38 days before an election would then have that person sit in judgement of the very election in play?" Stephanopoulos pressed Lee. "Whether she recuses in this or any other case is up to her," Lee replied, referring to Barrett. —This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 27, 2020 Lee, who is also on the Senate Judiciary Committee, added that the president is fulfilling a campaign promise by taking steps to appoint Barrett and other judges around the country. "President Donald Trump campaigned in 2016, he's campaigning again this time, promising to appoint judges to federal courts and justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who are textualists and who are originalists," he said. "This is exactly what he promised to do and he's fulfilling that promise. I think the American people respect somebody who's willing to stand behind his campaign promises, which is what he's doing with Judge Barrett."
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic September 27, 2020 at 03:51PM
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An anonymous Facebook exec says 'right-wing populism is always more engaging' and that's why conservative posts thrive on the platform https://ift.tt/3jbXwMg Reuters
An anonymous Facebook executive told Politico that right-wing pages see more engagement because of their emotional pull, instead of the platform's algorithm, according to a report published Friday. The publication reported that the executive said that "right-wing populism is always more engaging," because of its focus on "nation, protection, the other, anger, fear" -- the same dynamic present in the 1930's, the executive told Politico. "This wasn't invented 15 years ago when Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook," Politico reported the executive said. Facebook hasn't responded to a Business Insider request for comment at the time of publication. In July, data from the Facebook's internal metrics tool CrowdTangle showed that all five of the site's top-performing posts came from pages for Fox News and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. The data assessed "engagement" or the total number of likes, comments and shares a post received, prompting Facebook's head of News Feed John Hegeman to respond that a more apt metric would be "reach," or total number of people who saw a link in their news feed. Facebook doesn't publish "reach" numbers, but Hegeman shared data that showed that reach favored more traditional non-partisan outlets. The anonymous Facebook executive, who identified as "a center-left progressive," said the left's debate about how to engage their supporters is "as old as the hills," and predates the company. "All center-left campaigners and politicians always ask themselves, 'Why can't [we] seem to rile their supporters as much as right-wing populists have?'" Politico reported the executive said. A Business Insider investigation from September tracked the ways in which the social media site has become a haven for conservatives. In recent months, the tech platform has been intensely criticized by prominent Democrats and Republicans for political bias. During the Democratic presidential primary, former Vice President Joe Biden told the New York Times Editorial Board that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a "real problem." "He knows better," Biden said. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump spoke with a group of nine state Attorney Generals, Senator Josh Hawley, and Attorney General Bill Bar, about taking "concrete legal steps" to prevent social media platforms from censoring conservative users. "At the urging of the radical left, these platforms have become intolerant of diverse political views and abusive toward their own users," President Trump said. Trump singled out Twitter for restricting his own tweets, as the platform has added notices to some of his tweets that contain misinformation about voting. In May of this year, Trump signed an executive order threatening to penalize social-media companies for bias against right-wing users.
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