US technology giant Apple has reportedly withdrawn its support for next month’s Republican National Convention (RNC) in opposition to Donald Trump’s possible presidential nomination.
According to Politico, the iPhone and iMac maker was against what it called Trump’s sexist, racist, and xenophobic statements throughout his campaign.
Although not known as a routine supporter of major political parties, Apple did provide both Republican and Democrats with $140,000 worth of MacBooks and other hardware for the convention events in the 2008 presidential election.
The company stood out of the US presidential race in 2012, after Democrats rejected corporate contributions.
This year however, unlike Google, Microsoft and Facebook, Apple pulled its financial support from the RNC to make a case against the New York businessman who has blasted Apple for its alleged refusal to install a backdoor on its products for intelligence purposes.
If confirmed, Apple will join other big names among tech companies who have rejected to support Trump’s bid for the White House.
Hewlett Packard (HP), which funded the RNC in 2012, announced in May that it would not do so this year.
Renowned internet media company BuzzFeed also cancelled a lucrative advertisement deal for the RNC, specifically citing Trump as the reason.
“We don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health,” wrote the company’s CEO Jonah Peretti, adding “and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.”
Trump, a billionaire businessman from New York, has propelled himself as the presumptive Republican nominee by framing himself as an anti-establishment outsider.
However, his campaign has been defined by controversy from the beginning, including disparaging remarks about women, Mexican immigrants and Muslims.
He has pledged to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants while vowing to construct a wall on the US-Mexican border to prevent Mexicans from entering America.
Trump has also proposed a ban on all Muslims entering the US, while calling for special IDs and special databases to help better track Muslim Americans.