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Tim Cook's fundraiser for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton set for tonight

Later on Wednesday, Apple chief Tim Cook will reportedly host a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who so far has more support among Silicon Valley workers and executives than her Republican rival, Donald Trump.

Although its location isn't public, the event is being co-hosted by Lisa Jackson, Apple's VP of environment, policy and social initiatives,. Tickets are thought to be going for between $2,700 and $50,000, with proceeds going to the Hillary Victory Fund, as was first reported back in July.

The money raised will in turn be split between Clinton's campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and Democrat operations in 38 states.

Clinton is in the middle of a fundraising blitz which started last week in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. The Cook event is in fact just one of two taking place today, the other being at the Palo Alto home of IAS CEO Amy Rao.

Although Cook hosted a similar fundraiser for Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan in June — looking to court both sides of the aisle — the CEO's political affiliations are known to lean more toward the Democrats, at least on some stances like civil rights and the environment.

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Cook and Silicon Valley in general have swung heavily in favor of the Democrats this election cycle, owing mostly to strong opposition to Trump. The business magnate has made numerous controversial statements, and called for policies like new ideological tests for immigrants, aimed explicitly at Muslims.

Trump has even criticized Apple directly, in one case for refusing to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple argued that it would've had to write new software and fundamentally undermine iOS security. Trump proposed a boycott, despite owning Apple stock himself.

The candidate has also promised to make Apple bring more of its manufacturing back to the U.S. Most of the company's products are assembled in China, taking advantage of cheap labor costs.



63 Comments

slprescott 11 Years · 759 comments

I plan to vote for Hillary, so my next comment is not bashing her: it's curious that someone as wealthy as Cook supports Hillary when she is very open about plans to increase taxes on the rich. I guess Cook's motivation is driven by looking at the alternative to Hillary... and deciding that scenario would be much worse (not necessarily in terms of tax policy).

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
gatorguy 14 Years · 24642 comments

I plan to vote for Hillary, so my next comment is not bashing her: it's curious that someone as wealthy as Cook supports Hillary when she is very open about plans to increase taxes on the rich. I guess Cook's motivation is driven by looking at the alternative to Hillary... and deciding that scenario would be much worse (not necessarily in terms of tax policy).

Lesser of two evils then?

 Revelations that Hillary has been mixing her Clinton Foundation business with State Department meetings doesn't look good so I would hope Mr Cook (and Apple) aren't contributors to the Foundation as well as it leaves the impression of "special access" for the wealthy if they'll just toss some money the Clinton's way. 

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
thewhitefalcon 11 Years · 4444 comments

We're screwed with either choice this election (and deservedly so), so I don't even care at this point. Tim's likely just buying protection for Apple. 

MTBShane76 9 Years · 2 comments

Neither candidate is ideal and Tim Cook should have just stayed out of it.  I hate the idea that my money is going to support Hillary, and yes, I would feel the same if it were trump!

6 Likes · 0 Dislikes