Current Affairs

‘If we stand and say nothing it’s as if we’re agreeing’, Apple CEO criticises Trump’s travel ban

Feb 09 2017
Written by Bobby Rae

The Chief Executive of Apple, Tim Cook, has hit out at President Trump’s Executive Order banning people from seven Muslim countries.

The head of the world’s richest company delivered a speech at the University of Glasgow after receiving an honorary doctorate for services to science.

Mr Cook, who took over from Steve Jobs and is openly gay, made his comments when answering questions in a Q&A.

When asked about the Executive Order, he said: “I wrote this letter, you probably read about it unless you’re living underground, about the most recent executive order that was issued in the US.

“We have employees that secured a work visa, they brought family to the US, but happened to be outside the US when the executive order was issued and all of a sudden their families were affected.

“They couldn’t get back in. That’s a crisis. You can imagine the stress.

“If we stand and say nothing it’s as if we’re agreeing, that we become a part of it. It’s important to speak out.”

This is not the first time Mr Cook has spoken out against the ban.

Last month, he wrote a letter to employees where he said, “Apple is open”.

The 56-year-old also told students at the University that they should not work simply for the sake of earning money.

He said that instead of falling in love with “profits or revenues”, students should concentrate on doing something that they feel passionate about.

“My advice to all of you is: don’t work for money – it will wear out fast, or you’ll never make enough to ever be happy,” he said.

“You have to find the intersection of doing something you’re passionate about and at the same time something that is in the service of other people.

“I would argue that if you don’t find that intersection, you’re not going to be very happy in life.

“I’ve been very fortunate to wind up with an incredible company where I’m very passionate about what we do and which also stands at the direct intersection of my values.”

It was rumoured last year, that Mr Cook was one of Hillary Clinton’s picks for Vice President.