Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant rhetoric with a thinly veiled reference to the Republican presidential contender during a speech to lay out his vision for the social media giant's future.
"I hear fearful voices for building walls," Zuckerberg said in his keynote address to the Facebook Developer Conference on Tuesday. "Instead of building walls, we should build bridges."
"Instead of dividing people we can connect people. We do it one person at a time, one connection at a time. That’s why I think the work we’re doing together is more important than it has even been before," he said, according to The Guardian.
His comments contrast with Trump's repeated calls for building a wall along the border with Mexico. Trump recently unveiled his plan for getting Mexico to pay for its construction by threatening to block workers in the United States from remitting money home to their families.
A Trump spokesperson responded Wednesday to Zuckerberg's swipe at the GOP front-runner.
"Self-righteousness isn't very proactive: We can talk about taxes, we can talk about jobs and even immigration, but that doesn't really put food on the table and save lives," Katrina Pierson said, according to NBC News. "I think I'll take Mark Zuckerberg seriously when he gives up all of his private security, moves out of his posh neighborhood, and comes live in a modest neighborhood near a border town."
Zuckerberg used the remarks Tuesday to couch his vision for a hyperconnected world where people communicate with one another via Facebook products.
This article has been updated with a comment from Trump's spokesperson.
Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.
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