If recently leaked audio of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is any indication, Elizabeth Warren won’t be touring Facebook’s sprawling California campus any time soon. In uncharacteristically direct language, Zuckerberg slammed Warren’s call for better regulation of Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Google, even threatening to sue the federal government should Warren win the White House next year.

“It’s like, we care about our country, and want to work with our government and do good things,” Zuckerberg said. “But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and fight."

For Warren, who has surged to the front of a crowded Democratic primary field in part by embracing unapologetically progressive positions, it’s hard to imagine a better campaign ad.

Zuckerberg’s argument reveals the shocking tone-deafness great wealth creates and sustains. His problem isn’t with Warren per se – Zuckerberg takes pains to express how much it would “suck” to sue the government – but with the idea that Warren isn’t interested in letting Facebook dictate the terms of its own regulation.

With nearly $66 billion to his name, Zuckerberg is the fifth richest person in the world, and he hasn’t been shy about using that money – and Facebook’s $12.6 million lobbying behemoth in Washington – to fend off previous attempts at oversight.

Sometimes those efforts work, as seen in Facebook’s successful effort to stymie state antitrust probes. But even when Facebook is punished, as it was by the FTC, who issued the company a record $5 billion fine in July 2019, the financial costs of misbehavior are a mere nuisance to a corporate titan worth nearly $500 billion.

Unfortunately for Zuckerberg, Elizabeth Warren has a plan for that.

Wall Street bankers say Elizabeth Warren 'has got to be stopped', claims Jim Cramer

On October 1, Warren used the media buzz surrounding Zuckerberg’s threats to announce a bold new plan to tax “excessive” corporate and foreign lobbying. Warren’s plan has the potential to cause a seismic shift in Washington power dynamics not seen since the end of the Second World War, when the trickle of lobbyist influence became a flood.

Corporate lobbying is a massive industry. According to Karl Evers-Hillstrom of the campaign finance tracking website OpenSecrets, corporations and countries spent over $3.4 billion bending the ears of legislators and government regulators in 2018, the largest spend in eight years.

Warren’s tax kicks in when a corporation spends over $500,000 annually on Washington influence campaigns, with tax rates starting at 35 per cent and increasing to 75 per cent for lobbying over $5 million. That puts Warren at odds with mammoths of Washington influence like Facebook ($12.5 million), Google ($21 million), the National Rifle Association ($5 million) and nations like Saudi Arabia, which spends $11.1 million annually on DC lobbyists.

Warren estimates that a lobbying tax would have generated over $10 billion in federal revenue over the past 10 years. And while that $10 billion is just a fraction of the federal budget, it would be enough to restore Trump administration cuts to essential social services like Meals on Wheels ($3 billion), which provides meals to homebound individuals. It would also negate Trump’s proposed $4.5 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food stamps and nutrition assistance to children and the elderly.

While Silicon Valley plutocrats gather to decide how best to obstruct a Warren administration, there is growing evidence that her take-no-prisoners message is resonating with Democratic voters. The most recent Monmouth survey shows Warren vaulting into first place, with 28 per cent to Joe Biden’s 25 per cent. Warren also enjoys slim leads in New Hampshire (+1) and Iowa (+2).

The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions’ testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that “healthcare should be a right, not a privilege” Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a “special meaning” for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty

Unlike polarized issues like Medicare-for-All, Warren’s swing at lobbyists and Soylent-chugging tech bros could garner bipartisan support. Out-of-control lobbying is one of the few issues both Republicans and Democrats condemn, but neither side has yet been willing to take decisive action. Taxing corporate lobbying becomes more appealing when that revenue is made available for legislators’ home-district pet projects.

Washington has also soured on Silicon Valley after a cascade of data breaches, potential election interference and condescension from tech’s multi-billionaire CEOs. One-time media darlings like Zuckerberg may not have the influence they believe, even with millions of dollars in corporate spin behind their arguments.

Elizabeth Warren’s battle with Mark Zuckerberg generated a raft of positive media attention for Warren and an opportunity to announce her ambitious plans to rein in runaway corporate influence. Whatever Zuckerberg’s intentions, his entitled, petty remarks only amplified press and activist attention around the massive influence wielded by tech’s unelected czars. Zuckerberg’s comments were, like so many attempts by Facebook to enter the political conversation, a spectacular backfire.