Rubio to Apple: Your brand is not superior to national security

Apple has no friends among the Republican presidential candidates. 

The men vying for the Republican presidential nomination roundly criticized Apple during Thursday night's GOP debate when asked about the tech giant's ongoing legal battle with the FBI.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson all took the federal government's side when asked whether or not the United States should be able to compel Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the killers in the San Bernardino, California mass shooting last December.

Apple has refused to comply with a judge's order to do so, arguing that if it was to create a unique piece of software, as the FBI is asking, it would set a precedent that would give the U.S. and governments around the world unrestrained access to citizens' encrypted personal data.    

Rubio fired back that Apple's characterization of the situation is "not accurate."

"They are not asking for Apple to create a backdoor to encryption," Rubio said. "Their brand is not superior to the national security of the United States of America." 

Rubio's fiery statement -- an echo of a Department of Justice document released last week that essentially called Apple' decision a marketing ploy -- is a much stronger stance than the one he took at a CNN town hall last week in which he claimed that "Apple is not necessarily in the wrong," as CNN's Dana Bash pointed out.

"At the time, Apple was portraying that the court order was to create a back door to encryption," Rubio defended.

The issue of whether tech companies should be more forthcoming when federal governments need access to their users' encrypted data -- or give the government access to a so-called "back door" -- for national security purposes has come up repeatedly in the GOP debates this election cycle. 

Most Republican candidates have repeatedly sided with the federal government in the debate -- with the exception of libertarian-leaning Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has since dropped out of the race.

Cruz cited the fourth amendment -- which delineates lawful search and seizure -- in defending the FBI's position.

Carson also echoed his argument.

"I think allowing terrorists to get away with things is bad for America," Carson said. 

Kasich blamed Pres. Barack Obama for letting the debate play out in public at all.

"The problem is not right now between the administration and Apple, the problem is, 'Where's the president been?'" Kasich said. "You sit down in a back room and you sit down with the parties and get it worked out -- you don't litigate this on the front page of the New York Times...You lock the door and you say, 'You're not coming out until you reach an agreement."

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