WASHINGTON: Breaking a tradition of contributing towards presidential conventions of both parties, Apple will not support Republicans this time because of its unease with Donald Trump.
The company has not officially announced its decision, but unidentified officials confirmed it to US media outlets.
Trump has attacked Apple for its production facilities in China, vowing to bring them back to the US, but the company is more troubled by his racist and bigoted remarks.
It joins Hewlett-Packard, the other IT giant whose CEO Meg Whitman has compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini. Apple’s help, as that of Microsoft and Google, which are all backing both conventions, may not amount to much in itself—Apple products worth $140,000 in 2008.
But the optics of it will be troubling for the Republican party, which is struggling to come to grips with their nominee and his bitterly divisive remarks on race, religion and all in between. Other companies that have decided to not sponsor the Republican convention include JP Morgan Chase and Ford Motors, Bloomberg reported.
It’s a standard practice for many US companies to contribute towards both conventions through resources and products, without seeming to be taking sides. But 2016 will be different.
{{/usCountry}}It’s a standard practice for many US companies to contribute towards both conventions through resources and products, without seeming to be taking sides. But 2016 will be different.
{{/usCountry}}Trump has been struggling lately with his own party’s continuing misgivings about him.