HE’S FLAILING: Zuckerberg says he learned of Definers through NYT story.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that he was unaware that his company hired a right-leaning political consulting firm to stave off its opponents while voicing his respect for Democratic mega-donor George Soros.

Zuckerberg spoke hours after the tech giant cut ties with Definers Public Affairs, a political consulting firm that The New York Times reported Wednesday had accused Soros of funding a group of Facebook’s progressive opponents.

The Facebook chief said during a conference call with reporters that he learned about Facebook’s relationship with the firm through the Times report the previous day.

“I have tremendous respect for George Soros,” Zuckerberg said, adding that he would not want his company to be associated with a firm that deploys those tactics.

“This type of firm might be normal in Washington but it’s not the kind of thing that I want Facebook associated with, which is why we’re no longer going to be working with them,” Zuckerberg said during the call.

What’s really interesting is that even the once much-more-respectable The Hill frames it as some kind of sin to hire a right-leaning firm.