Apple CEO Tim Cook is taking a strong stance on the recent Nazi and white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, and Donald Trump’s response, saying “Hate is a cancer.” He also said Apple is donating money and matching employee donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
Cook was clear on his disapproval of the White House comparing Nazis to those who defend human rights. In a letter to Apple employees (obtained by Axios) he said,
I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights. Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans.
Cook’s comments come in the wake of one of the largest white supremacist events in recent history. Nazis and white supremacists organized to protest the planned removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. They started on the evening of Friday, August 12th, on the University of Virginia campus chanting “white lives matter,” “Jews won’t replace us,” and “blood and soil.”
They regrouped on Saturday where there were met by anti-racist counter demonstrators, anarchists, and antifa protestors. The protest turned violent and the city declared a state of emergency.
White supremist supporter James Alex Fields Jr drove his car through the anti-racist crowd, injuring 19 people and killing Heather Heyer. He was later aprehended and charged with second degree murder.
35 people were injured in the clash and two police officers, along with Heather Heyer, were killed.
Trump Responds to Charlottesville
Mr. Trump commented on the violence by noting the Robert E. Lee statue was “very important” to the demonstrators. Noting the violence at the event he said “There are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for the country, but there are two sides to a story.”
The reaction to his comments wasn’t as positive as he expected and by Wednesday the CEOs who made up his Strategy Council had disbanded. Mr. Trump responded by taking to Twitter to announce he was shutting down both his Strategy and Manufacturing councils.
Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
Mr. Cook called out the Charlottesville violence and the White House response saying, “What occurred in Charlottesville has no place in our country. Hate is a cancer, and left unchecked it destroys everything in its path. Its scars last generations.”
He went on to say Apple is donating a million dollars each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Apple is also matching employee donations to both organizations.
In essence, the president has leveraged a hate filled racist riot to alienate himself from the business leaders he was looking to for support. And now we’re living in a world where corporations and their interests are better aligned with the public than the president’s.
This is like having two fighting kids. Each of them are saying “they started it.” But as a parent, you send them both to their room. It was wrong of the one kid to start it, and the other kid should have handled it differently than joining in.
It’s ashame because the one kid might have been good, and the other kid might have been bad. But once they tangle in a fight, they both are in trouble.
President Trump is correct that both sides were engaged in violence. The protestors from the KKK had a permit and were peacefully inside of two pens. The pens each had one exit way. The alt-left people gathered outside the exit ways, and were there to spit on and hit the people from the KKK as they left. This is where the violence started. And yes it came from both sides.
Violence is never okay, no matter what words someone says or what dumb beliefs they have. And both sides should value this. Slavery existed for thousands of years. Even the pyramids were built by slaves thousands of years ago. But with the USA came freedom of speech, and because of it, slavery was ended with 100 years. The way to promote equality and peace in the long run is to preserve freedom of speech.
It would be good to keep different issues out of a discussion on a topic such as this. The debate about this or any president’s economic, foreign or other issues should not be injected into this topic.
Let me start by saying our right to speak out on and protest about any idea, issue or policy we care about needs continued defending and protection. This includes the right of those who are stand for idiotic or repulsive ideas.
The president, however, represents all Americans and all that America is. For the president to place “the two sides” on the issues involved in Virginia on some kind of equivalence is totally wrong. White supremacists are morally bankrupt; as are any form of Nazi or KKK ideology. The president needed to say that these groups represent evil ideas that are reprehensible to all that is American. He needed to be clear and unequivocal in condemning what these groups marched for while at the same time taking a stand with those who were counter-protesting.
Instead the president’s statements muddied the problem and gave cover to those spouting racial hatred. He has made an opportunity to clearly place his presidency on the side of equality into a mess that will tarnish his presidency no matter whatever good he does in other areas. He should have left any violence that took place be handled by law enforcement. His inability to see and speak forcefully and clearly for equality and against racial groups standing for racial supremacy is sickening. I cannot defend what he said.
Tim Cook is a liberal who has been pressured by Trump to bring jobs and money back to America. This is simply a convenient excuse for Tim Cook to distance himself from the President. President Trump is obviously not a racist. Last week, liberals were claiming Trump was aligned with Russians. This week, Trump is supposedly aligned with Nazi’s. The truth is: nothing Trump ever does or says will be acceptable to these people.
Bill Clinton said, “It’s the economy stupid.” While liberals focus on bathrooms and statues, President Trump has brought us the lowest unemployment in 16 years, and that is what the elections will be based on.
Apple has almost no diversity in its leadership, and it seems to be covering its guilt by attacking Trump on race. Don’t look at what Apple says, look at what it does. It tells you the real story about where Apple stands on race.
I don’t think Trump needed to condemn this at all. It should be assumed to be condemned by default. After all, he’s not a Democrat, you know, the guys who founded the KKK. The Democrats had a KKK member in Congress for 50 years and not one Democrat complained about it. Hillary said he was her mentor, for crying out loud. Where were you then, Mr. Cook?
Antifa is a racist terror group. They aren’t any different than the NEO-Nazis. The fact that they picked a fight with another racist terror group is irrelevant. You simply have two racist terror groups fighting each other with one claiming they have a moral high ground saying, ‘At least my racism isn’t as bad as their racism ‘. Bunch of children.
Quite honestly, the USA seems to be turning into a reincarnation of Nazi Germany. And it is frightening.
As a stockholder I approve.