Apple’s Cook to host Paul Ryan fundraiser amid Trump woes
Apple CEO Tim Cook will host a fundraiser with House Speaker Paul Ryan next week as the iPhone maker tries to strengthen its relationships with key Republicans — despite its decision to pull support for the GOP convention because of its distaste for Donald Trump.
Cook will help generate cash for Ryan at a private breakfast on June 28 in Menlo Park, Calif., along with Gary Wipfler, the company’s treasurer, according to an invite obtained by POLITICO on Monday. The money benefits not only the speaker but a joint fundraising committee aimed at helping to elect other House Republicans.
Cook is hosting the fundraiser on his own accord, as Apple does not have a corporate political action committee like Facebook, Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley. Still, the move reflects Apple’s desire to court Republican and Democratic officeholders alike, even at a time when it has serious reservations about Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Trump’s incendiary remarks about women, immigrants and minorities led Apple to decide against donating cash and technology to the GOP’s convention in Cleveland next month, according to two sources, who revealed the company’s thinking to POLITICO on Saturday. Apple had provided such aid to Democratic and Republican nominating events in previous years.
A company spokesman declined to comment for this story.
The Trump campaign has not commented on Apple’s convention decision, which marks a break with other tech giants, like Facebook and Google, which have said they will provide support to the Republican nominating event this year. Trump has taken repeated shots at Apple and Cook, even calling for a boycott of the company’s products over its stance on encryption.
Trump aside, Cook long has sought to improve his company’s relationships with Democrats and Republicans — a far different approach than that of Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs, who disdained Washington.
Cook donated to Barack Obama during his first White House run. In 2015, he donated cash to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a vocal Apple ally during the company’s fight with the government over the way it priced its e-books. That same year, the Apple CEO wrote a personal check to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who shares the iPhone maker’s views on surveillance reform. And in 2016, Cook backed Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a leading tech policy advocate who represents a slice of the Bay Area.
On the Republican side, Cook has been just as active. When the Apple CEO visited Washington in May 2015, he huddled with leading Republicans, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), to talk patent reform and other issues. In August, Cook hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a major ally in the company’s calls for tax reform, in Atherton, Calif., according to an invite obtained by POLITICO.
The House GOP’s new 2016 policy agenda under Ryan makes a nod to consumer privacy and the need for encryption, one of Cook’s priority issues.
“Tools like encryption are the bedrock of Internet security — without them, the web would be a far more dangerous place. We must work together in finding a path forward to keep our people — and our data — secure,” the policy agenda says.
Asked about the Cook-hosted fundraiser, and the rest of Ryan’s schedule when he’s in California next week, a spokesman for the speaker’s campaign effort did not provide further details.
“The 2016 election is a critical moment for the country with a lot at stake. It shouldn’t be a surprise Paul Ryan is raising funds to defend and strengthen the House Republican majority,” the aide said. “The speaker looks forward to visiting California to share the pro-growth policy agenda he and his colleagues are laying out in the House.”