Tim Cook, Apple CEO, speaks at the Dreamforce 2019 conference in San Francisco on November 19, 2019.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” that anyone with a role in the US Capitol insurrection last week should be held responsible. Cook did not exempt President Donald Trump from that statement.
“I don’t think anyone is above the law,” Cook told CBS’s Gayle King in a clip that aired on Tuesday. “I mean, this is the big thing about our country, we are a country with the rule of law. I think everyone who participated in it needs to be held accountable.”
Cook said the events are not something the country should just try to move on, although he eventually said “we need to move on”.
“I don’t think we should let it go,” said Cook. “I think holding people accountable is important.”
Apple removed Parler, an alternative social media app, from its App Store on Saturday after discovering it was being used to spread calls for violence after the Capitol riots, in violation of its rules against objectionable content.
Cook maintained a relatively close but balanced relationship with Trump during his tenure. Although Cook criticized Trump’s main policies, such as his decision to end DACA, the Obama-era program that protects some immigrants from deportation, and directed a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2016, he did manage to get Trump’s support more than the leaders of many other big tech companies have done.
The relationship was undoubtedly rewarded by allowing Apple to repatriate money at lower tax rates and obtain its products free of tariffs on goods imported from China.
King said the interview with Cook was scheduled to reveal a “big announcement” on Wednesday, when the full interview will air. King said the announcement is not about a new product.
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