A pillar of famously liberal Silicon Valley is underwriting Washington’s biggest gathering of conservatives.
Sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell The Daily Beast that Facebook made a six-figure contribution to CPAC, the yearly conference for conservative activists which will feature President Donald Trump, White House advisor Steve Bannon, NRA president Wayne LaPierre, and other right-wing favorites.
Facebook’s contribution is worth more than $120,000. “We are glad Facebook agreed to be at CPAC and to acknowledge the importance of conservatives to their company, and we continue to work with them on issues important to conservatives,” Matt Schlapp—chairman of the American Conservative Union said.
CPAC this year will feature a bevy of Trump allies, including boosters of the president’s travel ban executive order. One panel at the event, featuring Republican members of Congress, is titled, “If Heaven Has A Gate, A Wall, And Extreme Vetting, Why Can’t America?”
The event will also feature Breitbart News senior editor Joel Pollak, Citizens United president David Bossie, and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. Clarke is famous for making incendiary comments, including for predicting that Black Lives Matter activists will team up with ISIS to destroy America.
Coraline Ada Ehmke, a software developer who also works with tech companies to limit on-platform harassment, said Facebook’s donation to CPAC is a “betrayal” of its commitment to diversity.
“They’re betraying every immigrant, every woman, every Muslim, every person of color and every transgender employee that they have,” she said.
“Facebook has been touting that they got a 100 percent ranking from the Human Rights Campaign. With this, Facebook is talking out of both sides of their mouth,” said Ehmke.
“You can’t tout diversity efforts and simultaneously work to undermine the rights of those you are trying to recruit,” she added.