Apple won't be funding GOP convention due to Trump, report says
Facebook will have a lounge, Google will be live streaming and Microsoft will be providing tech products at the Republican National Convention, but Apple is expected to be absent.
According to Politico, in contrast to past conventions, Apple won't be providing funding nor tech to the Cleveland event that runs July 18 to 21 because of GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Citing Trump's inflammatory rhetoric, two unnamed sources "familiar with" Apple's plans told Politico Apple would be sitting this convention out. Apple declined to comment on the matter in an email to Mashable.
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It's unclear if the iPhone maker will be sponsoring the Democratic National Convention that begins in Philadelphia on July 25. Mashable has reached out to both the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee for more information.
Facebook, Microsoft and Google have all said their sponsorship of the conventions -- all are providing support to both -- are driven by a non-partisan desire to encourage participation in the electoral process.
But that hasn't stopped Trump opponents from slamming the tech giants for aiding the GOP convention. Activists who popularized the #DumpTrump hashtag protested outside Google's Mountain View headquarters in late April and groups such as ColorOfChange, Free Press Action Fund and CREDO Action have been urging the companies to suspend their GOP sponsorships.
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Meanwhile, other companies have cut back (or cut completely) their support for the GOP convention.
Hewlett-Packard Inc., which spun off from Hewlett-Packard, won't help pay for the RNC convention. In contrast, HP gave $550,000 in cash and equipment to the GOP's Tampa convention in 2012. Coca-Cola has reduced its funding to $75,000, compared to $660,000 during the 2012 convention. UPS, Motorola Solutions Inc. and Ford Motor Co. are among those companies who have decided against sponsorships altogether.
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Brittany Levine Beckman was Mashable's managing editor. She enjoys crafting feature ideas, learning new things, and party parrots. Before working at Mashable, she covered community news at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. That's how she met a zonkey and the tallest man in the world.
