The Moore family knew they would be having a mystery guest over for dinner but, still, they were surprised when Mark Zuckerberg walked through the door.
Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Facebook, surprised the family at its Newton Falls, Ohio, home as part of his yearlong tour of the United States.
Daniel Moore said members of Zuckerberg’s staff reached out to him to see whether he wanted to host a mystery dinner guest, but kept Zuckerberg’s identity a secret until just before he arrived.
So why would the founder of one of the world’s most important companies visit a random family in Ohio? Partially politics. Zuckerberg had been looking for Democrats who voted for President Donald Trump and his staff found articles about Daniel Moore online. Moore told the Youngstown Vindicator that he voted for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but campaigned heavily for Trump.
The family’s conversation with Zuckerberg included the politics of the swing state, working with orphanages and future plans for the community.
“The more he talked, the more I liked him and was inspired by him,” Moore told CNN affiliate WKBN.
Zuckerberg, in a Facebook post, thanked the family for hosting him.
Moore thanked Zuckerberg in a Facebook post of his own. “If we could all set aside our differences and come together, dedicate ourselves to a common purpose of making the world more open and connected, achieve this purpose in an ethical manner, include talented individuals of diverse backgrounds and walks of life, empower all those with a desire to get involved, and implement an efficient process to ensure that our common purpose is completed, our nation and world would not be so polarized,” Moore wrote.
In January, Zuckerberg announced his goal for 2017 is to visit and meet with people in all 50 states to find out how people are “living, working and thinking about the future.” He can now check Ohio off the list.
Earlier on the day he visited the Moores, Zuckerberg spoke with Muslim students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn to discuss community, education, faith and entrepreneurship.