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While several U.S.-based tech giants including Google, Microsoft and Facebook have vowed to provide tech and financial donations to the Republican convention in July, Apple will not do the same this year, citing the inflammatory and controversial rhetoric from presumptive nominee Donald Trump, Politico website reported Saturday.
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“Apple decided against donating technology or cash to the effort, according to two sources familiar with the iPhone maker’s plans,” the website said in a report. In previous years Apple and others provided tech donations and financial support for both Republican and Democratic conventions.
The sources told Politico that Apple's position was communicated privately to Republican leaders. Neither party have released a public statement on the issue.
The tech giant's move is not surprising as Trump had signaled out Apple with his attacks against tech companies that champion privacy and data encryption. Trump publicly criticized the company's CEO Tim Cook and have called for boycotting Apple’s products.
Apple provided about US$140,000 worth of MacBooks and other tech tools to the Democratic and Republican events in 2008, according to campaign finance records.
Meanwhile, Google and Facebook, whose leadership have publicly criticized Trump over his comments on women, immigrants and Muslims, have made it public they will still provide their usual support to the convention.
In April, Google confirmed they would be the official livestream provider at the July Republican convention in Cleveland, offering election trends, convention videos, virtual reality tools and other data to attendees and viewers.
The move came amid a major protest by civil rights organization at the company's headquarters, who called on the company to drop its support for the convention over Trump’s hate speech.
Facebook have confirmed they will remain a sponsor of the Republican’s July convention in Cleveland, according to tech website Recode, despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously criticizing Trump’s “culture of fear” over his comments against immigrants and Muslims.
Several activist groups have launched online campaigns to lobby tech companies against sponsoring and donating what they call the “Trump convention."
Heidi Hess of CREDO Action, a group that promotes progressive social change, slammed Facebook and other companies for maintaining their support for the Republican convention. “They’re really wrapping their arms around Trump,” Hess told Recode in May. “We will certainly try to get them to reconsider their decision.”
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