Tim Cook, Larry Page & Tech CEOs Hold Secret Meeting with Top Republicans about Donald Trump

[dgstorm]

The following story will be a fine line to walk for members to discuss. It's definitely political in nature, but it is also one of the biggest news stories of the day, so it's worth sharing. (Please remember the forum rules about not getting into political arguments, but feel free to discuss the strangeness of the situation).

This past weekend, an assortment of industry leaders met with U.S. Republican leadership at the American Enterprise Institute's annual World Forum. The most notable attendees were folks like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Larry Page, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Napster co-founder Sean Parker, and several more tech titans. The GOP leadership in attendance included folks like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.

According to reports from attendees, the primary topic of the meeting was to discuss how and why Donald Trump has risen to become the front-runner for the Republican party's nomination, and to discuss ways to stop him from winning the nomination. Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard wrote the following:

"A specter was haunting the World Forum–the specter of Donald Trump,” [Bill] Kristol wrote in an emailed report from the conference, borrowing the opening lines of the Communist Manifesto. “There was much unhappiness about his emergence, a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why he’s done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be defeated."

Kristol also shared, "The key task now, to once again paraphrase Karl Marx, is less to understand Trump than to stop him. In general, there's a little too much hand-wringing, brow-furrowing, and fatalism out there and not quite enough resolving to save the party from nominating or the country electing someone who simply shouldn't be president."

The meeting also included a presentation by Karl Rove, a political consultant for the Republican Party. His presentation was meant to share focus group findings regarding Donald Trump. The rise of Trump was not the only big topic of the pseudo-secret meeting. The other important issue being discussed by these powerful people was Cook's stance on encryption for Apple and their legal tussle with the FBI.

Apparently, Tom Cotton and Tim Cook engaged in a fierce debate that got a bit too heated. One source shared, "Cotton was pretty harsh on Cook. Everyone was a little uncomfortable about how hostile Cotton was."

The meeting was held at the Sea Island Resort in Georgia (shown above).

Source: HuffPost

 

[BubbaUK]

How fascinating. I'd be amazed if Trump didn't spin this meeting to his advantage.

 

[leeshor]

The establishment just doesn't get it. The electorate is pretty fed up with government in general. They elect people who say they will do A B and C and they never do any of them. I think a lot of people just think Washington needs a serious shakeup.

Had a politician, or anyone else, with more class said the same things Trump is saying, (more or less), they probably would have been at the top of the polls. Fewer people would be as upset, scared.

On another forum someone said that since big corporations can't buy influence from Trump they can't help but be against him. There may be some truth there.

 

[GreyFox7]

We survived the last 40 years with people who shouldn't be president as president and it looks like at least another 4 regardless of who wins. I'm not counting on anyone coming along soon to change it. The balance of power serves its purpose, those founding fathers knew a thing or two.

 

[leeshor]

+1 for that ^^^^^^^^

 

[Compusmurf]

You know, I don't think it'll matter. My guess is, Republicans will find a way to make sure he doesn't get nominated. Cook the books as you say and it'll just prove that even the primary elections are bogus as many folks already believe. At that point, I'll almost guarantee that Mr. DT will run as independent and disregard the worthless paper he signed that says he won't since that's already proven to not hold up in court. At that point, BOTH parties should be scared. Now, assume he gets the republican nomination, then the powers that be will run an independent candidate as a "shadow republican" against him.

I, like obviously millions of others are FED UP with professional politicians and the BS that goes with it. It's obvious that the PEOPLE are speaking and the professional politicians do NOT like what we have to say. I would be willing to toss my vote to DT. He might have a better chance than my write in for the last few years (Mickey Mouse). Just my little personal way of rebelling against the system.

Just my $0.03 (with inflation)

 

[ScottyS]

I guess that meeting wasn't so secret.

 

[kwright]

One of Trump's goals is to end copyright infringement in foreign countries. The US based companies will benefit greatly from this work.
They need to stop taking advice from politicians that have driven our economy into the ground and start listening to and considering the vision that Trump has for business that calls the USA home.

Did anyone from Microsoft attend?