'A Key Trump Ally on Facebook': 'They Are Certainly Singing a Different Tune'
Alex Bruesewitz explores the efforts of the social media giant to restore its connection with the right.
TroibNews 
The day prior to Meta's announcement of significant changes aimed at reconciling with MAGA supporters, Alex Bruesewitz, a prominent influencer in the movement, participated in a Zoom call to receive insights from the company’s new global policy chief.
Bruesewitz, who gained recognition as a Gen Z advocate for the “America First” ideology on social media, has become an important ally and adviser to Donald Trump. He played a pivotal role in the Trump campaign’s expansion into the realm of podcasting for young audiences and currently operates his own firm designed to support the election of MAGA Republicans.
In an interview with PMG Magazine, Bruesewitz explained that he was invited to meet with Meta’s team before their announcement to discuss various ideas. This move reflects how Silicon Valley, particularly Meta, is actively reaching out to conservative figures following Trump’s success. Notably, just days before, Meta appointed Joel Kaplan, a former official from the George W. Bush administration, as the head of its global policy team.
Conservatives have frequently voiced concerns about content moderation across social media platforms. Mark Zuckerberg’s recent decision to discontinue Meta’s fact-checking operation was well-received by conservatives, though Bruesewitz remarked that skepticism towards Facebook still persists among many.
He acknowledged Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter into X as a catalyst for Zuckerberg's recent shift. “I think some of Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing arc began after Elon purchased X,” noted Bruesewitz, speaking as CEO of X Strategies. “Mark seems to be a guy that follows the trend.”
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the relationship like with Meta for conservative influencers like you before this election?
Bruesewitz responded, “During 2016 to 2020, I didn't even know a single human being that I could get in contact with at Meta. To their credit, they did set up this taskforce after the 2020 election to interface with conservatives more. I think that was a positive development.”
However, he continued, “But for the past four years, they still kind of censored and cracked down on a lot of conservative content. I’ve mostly given up on trying to grow or have a voice on Instagram or Facebook. I don’t dedicate effort to grow my presence there just because of the rules and the regulations.”
He expressed confusion regarding content restrictions, stating, “When you create a Facebook page or create an Instagram account you can go and decide what pages you want to follow and what pages you want to like. And over the last four years, Meta kept saying, ‘Well, we want to deemphasize political content because our users don’t want to see it.’ And my pushback always was, ‘If they don’t want to see it then why do they like or follow our pages?’ And they never gave me a good answer on that.”
How different was the tone and substance in this conversation compared to past outreach? What was the vibe?
Bruesewitz explained, “Folks on the policy team that I interfaced with before weren’t in the kind of leadership position as Joel Kaplan. So that was a good step that the direct head of Facebook policy and Meta policy is now engaging with conservative leaders.”
He added, “Dialogue is important and a lot can be solved through dialogue. I told them I believe that they still have a long way to go in rebuilding trust with the American public and also with the conservative movement. I do see some conservatives kind of cheerleading them on. I think that some are still also very cautious.”
He expressed optimism about some recent appointments, saying, “I’m excited about the moves that they’ve made. Dana White as a new board member is exciting. And some new additions to their communications team, my buddy Francis Brennan joined their comms team, which I think is good. But I still think there’s a long way to go and only time and actions will tell if they’re serious about change.”
How much is this a direct response to Trump and the MAGA movement?
“I think some of Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing arc began after Elon purchased X,” Bruesewitz stated, emphasizing Musk's influence on Zuckerberg's actions. “Mark seems to be a guy that follows the trend. I hope that he also has some principles and some values. I hope this anti-censorship approach doesn't go away if Republicans in power go away.”
How did the meeting come about? Was it remote?
“The meeting was via Zoom, and I’m sure we’ll have continuous conversations and maybe a meeting in person coming soon. I hope that we keep having dialogue,” he shared. He explained that the meeting was initiated by a friend from the policy team who reached out to him.
Given your background in social media, will you take on a more liaison role between the White House and these platforms?
Bruesewitz stated, “Not in a formal capacity. I need to maintain my street cred. Hypothetically if I get a contract with Meta I don’t know if I’d maintain my street cred.”
He mentioned the prevalent skepticism from supporters, stating, “I read a lot of comments mainly by our people. But one of the main themes has been: ‘Don't trust him. I still can't log into my Facebook account. I got banned three years ago.’ I see hundreds of comments like that. That was kind of my big thing when I had a conversation with them — the need to reinstate a lot of these people who feel like they were wrongly banned.”
Was Joel Kaplan amenable to that?
“Yeah he was,” Bruesewitz confirmed. He noted that while some individuals were banned for valid reasons, many others were unfairly targeted. “My company has probably invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into building Facebook pages over the last couple of years, and then all of a sudden we can’t reach anybody. They took our money, and then we can’t even reach anybody.”
What about changes for disenfranchised MAGA supporters on the platform?
“I hope that they grow a spine and it seems that they are certainly singing a different tune now. I think conservatives want Facebook to be free and fair, but I don’t know if they’ll believe them right away,” he concluded.
Debra A Smith contributed to this report for TROIB News
Bruesewitz, who gained recognition as a Gen Z advocate for the “America First” ideology on social media, has become an important ally and adviser to Donald Trump. He played a pivotal role in the Trump campaign’s expansion into the realm of podcasting for young audiences and currently operates his own firm designed to support the election of MAGA Republicans.
In an interview with PMG Magazine, Bruesewitz explained that he was invited to meet with Meta’s team before their announcement to discuss various ideas. This move reflects how Silicon Valley, particularly Meta, is actively reaching out to conservative figures following Trump’s success. Notably, just days before, Meta appointed Joel Kaplan, a former official from the George W. Bush administration, as the head of its global policy team.
Conservatives have frequently voiced concerns about content moderation across social media platforms. Mark Zuckerberg’s recent decision to discontinue Meta’s fact-checking operation was well-received by conservatives, though Bruesewitz remarked that skepticism towards Facebook still persists among many.
He acknowledged Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter into X as a catalyst for Zuckerberg's recent shift. “I think some of Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing arc began after Elon purchased X,” noted Bruesewitz, speaking as CEO of X Strategies. “Mark seems to be a guy that follows the trend.”
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the relationship like with Meta for conservative influencers like you before this election?
Bruesewitz responded, “During 2016 to 2020, I didn't even know a single human being that I could get in contact with at Meta. To their credit, they did set up this taskforce after the 2020 election to interface with conservatives more. I think that was a positive development.”
However, he continued, “But for the past four years, they still kind of censored and cracked down on a lot of conservative content. I’ve mostly given up on trying to grow or have a voice on Instagram or Facebook. I don’t dedicate effort to grow my presence there just because of the rules and the regulations.”
He expressed confusion regarding content restrictions, stating, “When you create a Facebook page or create an Instagram account you can go and decide what pages you want to follow and what pages you want to like. And over the last four years, Meta kept saying, ‘Well, we want to deemphasize political content because our users don’t want to see it.’ And my pushback always was, ‘If they don’t want to see it then why do they like or follow our pages?’ And they never gave me a good answer on that.”
How different was the tone and substance in this conversation compared to past outreach? What was the vibe?
Bruesewitz explained, “Folks on the policy team that I interfaced with before weren’t in the kind of leadership position as Joel Kaplan. So that was a good step that the direct head of Facebook policy and Meta policy is now engaging with conservative leaders.”
He added, “Dialogue is important and a lot can be solved through dialogue. I told them I believe that they still have a long way to go in rebuilding trust with the American public and also with the conservative movement. I do see some conservatives kind of cheerleading them on. I think that some are still also very cautious.”
He expressed optimism about some recent appointments, saying, “I’m excited about the moves that they’ve made. Dana White as a new board member is exciting. And some new additions to their communications team, my buddy Francis Brennan joined their comms team, which I think is good. But I still think there’s a long way to go and only time and actions will tell if they’re serious about change.”
How much is this a direct response to Trump and the MAGA movement?
“I think some of Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing arc began after Elon purchased X,” Bruesewitz stated, emphasizing Musk's influence on Zuckerberg's actions. “Mark seems to be a guy that follows the trend. I hope that he also has some principles and some values. I hope this anti-censorship approach doesn't go away if Republicans in power go away.”
How did the meeting come about? Was it remote?
“The meeting was via Zoom, and I’m sure we’ll have continuous conversations and maybe a meeting in person coming soon. I hope that we keep having dialogue,” he shared. He explained that the meeting was initiated by a friend from the policy team who reached out to him.
Given your background in social media, will you take on a more liaison role between the White House and these platforms?
Bruesewitz stated, “Not in a formal capacity. I need to maintain my street cred. Hypothetically if I get a contract with Meta I don’t know if I’d maintain my street cred.”
He mentioned the prevalent skepticism from supporters, stating, “I read a lot of comments mainly by our people. But one of the main themes has been: ‘Don't trust him. I still can't log into my Facebook account. I got banned three years ago.’ I see hundreds of comments like that. That was kind of my big thing when I had a conversation with them — the need to reinstate a lot of these people who feel like they were wrongly banned.”
Was Joel Kaplan amenable to that?
“Yeah he was,” Bruesewitz confirmed. He noted that while some individuals were banned for valid reasons, many others were unfairly targeted. “My company has probably invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into building Facebook pages over the last couple of years, and then all of a sudden we can’t reach anybody. They took our money, and then we can’t even reach anybody.”
What about changes for disenfranchised MAGA supporters on the platform?
“I hope that they grow a spine and it seems that they are certainly singing a different tune now. I think conservatives want Facebook to be free and fair, but I don’t know if they’ll believe them right away,” he concluded.
Debra A Smith contributed to this report for TROIB News
