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Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump told his Houston supporters at a rally on Friday that nobody would protect their Second Amendment rights like he can. Trump then said the only solution was to declare war on ISIS. (June 17) AP
Donald Trump last week in North Carolina.(Photo: Chuck Burton, AP)
SAN FRANCISCO<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— Apple's decision to withhold spending and technical support from the Republican National Convention next month underscores a deepening rift between Silicon Valley and Donald Trump.
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>presumptive Republican presidential nominee has waged a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>verbal assault against Apple, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— through a surrogate<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for several months, while advocating hardline stances on immigration and minorities<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that have rankled progressive tech executives.
A person briefed on Apple's decision confirmed the snub, earlier reported by Politico, saying<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the decision<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>relayed to Republican officials. That<span style="color: Red;">*</span>person<span style="color: Red;">*</span>asked not to be named because they are not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Emily Lauer, a spokeswoman for the host committee raising funds for the Republican<span style="color: Red;">*</span>convention in Cleveland,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told USA TODAY she could “only confirm that they have not been part of the more than 100 committed donors.”
Apple is the latest corporate player to spurn the Republican event, to be held in Cleveland, or speak against Trump.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaks at an event to announce new products at Apple headquarters Monday, March 21, 2016, in Cupertino, Calif.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
HP Inc., The Coca-Cola Co. and Microsoft have eliminated or reduced financial support.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Microsoft<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is providing products and services<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but won’t donate cash.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Coca-Cola has indicated it would give just $75,000, compared to more than $600,000 in 2012.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>HP Inc. is not giving money or technical support to either the Republican or the Democratic<span style="color: Red;">*</span>convention, in Philadelphia next month.
Wells Fargo, Ford Motor, United Parcel Service and Motorola are also among the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>companies steering clear of the Republican gathering, according to a recent<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bloomberg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>report.
Google and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Facebook have said they will provide some support to the GOP event.
Silicon Valley, which normally makes its bets through venture funding, is investing heavily on Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Her campaign has collected<span style="color: Red;">*</span>$2.68<span style="color: Red;">*</span>million in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>donations, compared with $21,815<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for Trump, who has largely self-funded his campaign, according to Crowdpac, a nonpartisan political crowdfunding web site.
On Monday, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told an audience in France<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that Trump was on the "wrong side of history"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with his idea of building a wall between Mexico and the U.S.
USA TODAY
Voices: Fresh off California win, Clinton is tech's candidate
This month, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich<span style="color: Red;">*</span>abruptly canceled a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fundraiser for Trump<span style="color: Red;">*</span>amid outrage from within Intel for his anti-immigration stance, according to a report in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Re/code.
Trump has made his candidacy a hard sell in the valley because he's been so antagonistic toward it.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>When Apple refused a government request to hack the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters, Trump<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called for a boycott of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Apple products. After Zuckerberg took a thinly-veiled jab at Trump's immigration stance during a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>speech in April, a Trump aide called out Zuckerberg for "self-righteousness."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>In December 2015, Trump tweeted that Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, was using the newspaper as a "tax shelter" to save the "no-profit company" Amazon.
Still, Apple's action is jarring because it contributes cash or products to both parties during the conventions.
Four years ago, Apple lent products to the Democratic and Republican<span style="color: Red;">*</span>conventions but withheld writing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>checks. In 2008, it<span style="color: Red;">*</span>provided about $140,000 in products and services to both conventions, according to Politico, citing campaign finance records.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is also supporting a more moderate Republican, hosting a fundraiser for House Speaker<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Paul Ryan, R-Wis., later this month in Silicon Valley, according to an invite obtained by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Politico.
Despite the corporate boycotts, convention organizers said they have exceeded the fundraising pace for the 2012 Republican convention in Tampa. Lauer said the Cleveland group has only<span style="color: Red;">*</span>$6.5 million of its $64 million budget left to collect.
USA TODAY
Political conventions race to close fundraising gaps
Activists, who have been lobbying companies to boycott the convention over Trump’s harsh rhetoric about women, Latinos and Muslims, hailed Apple’s move.
“This is not about left or right,” said Rashad Robinson, spokesman for Color of Change PAC, which has spearheaded the anti-Trump campaign. “This is about right and wrong.”
Robinson said his group will work to get other firms to join the growing boycott list.
“This is not a business-as-usual convention,” he said. “Companies will have to answer five and 10 years from now about what they did in this moment.”
Follow USA TODAY San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz @jswartz on Twitter.
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