Mark Zuckerberg Went to Washington, and He Wore His Soberest Suit
Mark Zuckerberg arrived on Capitol Hill on Monday, ahead of testifying before various congressional committees about Facebook’s large-scale failures to protect millions of users against data-mining, fake news, and Russian actors. America’s favorite definitely-not-a-lizard-person has spent the past year or so emphasizing his gentler side, touring the small towns of America to practice listening and empathy. Now, in D.C., the man whose cruelty famously anchored a moody David Fincher film scored by Trent Reznor is signaling something else: that he’s serious, contrite, apologetic, and dressed for the task. Accordingly, we’ve been treated to some rare sartorial gems—including a suit specially chosen for Day 1 of Mark’s Political Field Trip.
While the halls of Capitol Hill are crawling with fashion don’ts, Zuckerberg distinguished himself Monday in a black jacket, a tie in a muted shade of Facebook blue, and a shirt collar so overwhelmingly oversize it’s practically Edwardian. Zuckerberg, a man worth billions upon billions of dollars, has famously settled on a heather gray T-shirt and blue jeans as his uniform of choice (we’ll pause here for a reminder that Steve Jobs’s black turtlenecks were Issey Miyake). It’s been a while since we’ve seen our dude in a suit, so we weren't surprised to see a little bit of rust. But the point wasn't to look great—it was to look like the responsible adult in the room.
Zuckerberg is on Capitol Hill to prove his contrition for Facebook's overreaches, and his suit is designed to communicate that. In his prepared remarks to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he said, “It’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm…that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.” In that vein, Zuckerberg’s suit can be thought of as a sartorial dog collar: hiked up around his ears as a representation of his shame (and to prevent him from licking those stitches).
All in all, a good faith effort—but it’s not clear if Zuckerberg’s new look will go far enough when it comes to pleasing the finicky fashion police in the White House. According to CNBC’s John Harwood, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has said the Facebook CEO needs to “clean up his act” and “stop wearing hoodies and dungarees.” On that count, at least, Zuck’s trip to D.C. has been a resounding success.
