Mark Zuckerberg hired a presidential pollster and everyone's freaking out

For someone who insists he has no interest in running for office, Mark Zuckerberg is really, really good at surrounding himself with top political strategists.

The latest: Zuckerberg's philanthropic foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has reportedly hired Joel Benenson, who was the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

SEE ALSO: No, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t running for office—his tour is much bigger than that

The hire was first reported by Politico's Annie Karni, who reports that the former pollster's company will be "conducting research" for the organization. 

"As a philanthropic organization focused on a number of substantive issues including science, education, housing and criminal justice reform, any research efforts we undertake is to support that work," a spokesperson for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said in a statement.

As Politico points out, Benenson's company has worked with a bunch of nonprofits in the past, but the latest move still raised more than few eyebrows, adding fuel to speculation that the Facebook exec is laying the groundwork for a potential political campaign.

Even though Zuckerberg insists that he is definitely not running for office, his recent actions have done little to quiet that speculation. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative previously hired David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager, as president of policy and advocacy.

He's also in the midst of a year-long tour of all 50 states that just so happens to have brought him through Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, and other swing states. There's also a probably-not-very-serious super PAC pushing him to make a run in 2020. You know, just in case.

UPDATE: Aug. 2, 2017, 6:10 p.m. PDT Updated with a statement from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

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