Roger Fingas
Despite having provided aid in the past, Apple is withholding financial and technological support from this year's Republican presidential convention — owing to controversial positions by candidate Donald Trump, a report claimed on Saturday.
The company privately told Republicans it won't offer support because of Trump's comments on minorities, women, and immigrants, according to two Politico sources. The website didn't say whether the topic of Trump's direct criticisms of Apple came up in discussions.
In January, Trump promised to make Apple manufacture its products in the U.S. instead of overseas. A month later, he suggested people should boycott Apple unless it backed down in its fight with the Department of Justice over unlocking the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.
Later on it was found that Trump's Twitter account was still being updated from an iPhone, and that he owned over $1 million in Apple shares.
Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are still supporting this year's GOP convention, despite having sometimes expressed their own concerns about Trump. Apple has traditionally curried favor by backing both Democratic and Republican conventions — in 2008, for instance, it supplied roughly $140,000 in MacBooks and other materials to the two parties. It skipped 2012, when the Democrats decided against taking corporate donations for their event.
Opposition to Trump may be steep at Apple. In March, stopping his presidential run was allegedly the main topic of discussion in a meeting with GOP representatives attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech industry figures, as well as various financial giants and politicians.
This weekend is proving an unusually political one for Apple, as Lisa Jackson — the company's VP Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives — said she will be speaking at the Bay Area Women's Summit on June 21. Many other prominent figures will be at the event, like the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland, U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, and senior advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett.
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
278 Comments
I don't think Apple should pick sides no matter how disastrous a Trump presidency would be.
This will be interesting. There is a large and extremely vocal group of Republican/Trump supporters here on AI. Personally I can't understand why as Apple is the most left leaning American company I can think of in the most left leaning state.
I'm not American but it is so gosh darn interesting watching your politics. It is a mixture of the most toxic reality TV series combined with the naked tribalism of a collegiate final (insert the sport of your choice).
Fascinating. And horrifying at once.
It's usually a good idea if you want money from someone to not encourage the populace to boycott their products. Just sayin'
I'm not backing either of the two major parties (and haven't for years), but this probably isn't a smart business move for Apple. Suppose Trump wins. What does Tim Cook think Trump will do when he has the power of the White House behind him? Not good.
Also, I find it interesting that Apple presumably plans to still support the Democrats, noting Hillary's backing of the Iraq war and opposition to gay marriage (she only supports gay "unions"). Plus every other thing wrong with her.
Why take sides at all? What's the end game? It's this kind of political garbage that makes people jump ship and stop buying products they've used for years.
I'm not a Trump fan and I am an Apple product user, but I find it ironic that Apple (Tim Cook) doesn't seem to mind selling their products in countries who degrade women and persecute gays and lesbians. The hypocrisy of either party is getting to ridiculous levels.