• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Leadership

Why Donald Trump’s Win Is Apple’s Loss

By
Tory Newmyer
Tory Newmyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Tory Newmyer
Tory Newmyer
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 21, 2016, 12:58 AM ET
donald trump
Photograph by Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

There were a lot of losers in the South Carolina Republican primary. Most of them were candidates not named Donald Trump.

Go ahead and add Apple (AAPL) to the list, too.

Trump, the runaway winner in the Palmetto State, has made his antipathy toward the electronics giant clear. His victory on Saturday came one day after he called for a boycott of Apple products on account of the company’s refusal to help the FBI crack the encrypted iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

“Tim Cook is living in a world of the make believe,” Trump told Bloomberg on Friday. “I would come down so hard on him—you have no idea—his head would be spinning all of the way back to Silicon Valley.”

Earlier in the week, the billionaire real estate developer called Apple “disgraceful” and suggested it should be forced to comply with the federal investigation. And last month, Trump slammed Apple’s foreign manufacturing, vowing, if elected, to make the company “start building their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries.”

Meanwhile, the GOP field’s Apple fanboy, Jeb Bush, withdrew from the race Saturday night after a distant fourth-place finish in a state where his family claims deep roots.

Tim Cook may not be losing any sleep over the South Carolina results. Yet the early success of an Apple detractor and the collapse of its top booster is no accident.

Before Trump’s rise rewired the race, the GOP pre-primary featured a quiet scramble to build ties to Silicon Valley. Beyond a rich vein of potential campaign cash, the tech sector offered the allure of new-economy credibility.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul made an especially early dash for tech industry hearts and minds in 2013. That spring, at a Senate hearing aimed at shaming Apple for its tax-avoidance schemes, he rose to the company’s defense, telling Tim Cook the company deserved an apology from Congress. A week later, Paul received a hero’s welcome when he made his first visit as a senator to Silicon Valley and offered a libertarian-inflected pledge to keep Washington out of the industry’s way.

Paul’s presidential campaign never gained traction, and he withdrew earlier this month after a disappointing finish in Iowa. Ditto for Chris Christie, who dropped out after New Hampshire — but not before winning some fans among the tech elite by emphasizing his ability to forge compromise as the Republican governor of a blue state. And Bush tried to slough off the ultimately toxic notion that he was an establishment retread by referring to himself as a “disruptor,” that technospeak cliche, and in turn defending Uber and other gig economy startups against stricter labor laws.

Bush’s attempt to identify with the tech sector went beyond branding and fundraising. The candidate also embraced the industry’s policy imperatives: advocating a switch to a territorial tax system (while also preserving the research and development credit); backing the Common Core education standards; and defending comprehensive immigration reform despite an anti-immigrant revolt by the base. The positions helped form the spine of a wonky program that Bush, with evident pride, hoped would channel conservative instincts into a modern governing vision.

But touting tech’s priorities and its pricey gadgets turned out to be a bad look at a time when many voters sense the technological revolution is responsible for their insecurity. Trump has fueled his candidacy by exploiting that fear. Explicit in his strongman appeal is the promise that, through sheer force of will, he can reverse the tides of globalization to restore a long-gone economic order. Indeed, it’s right there in his pledge to bring Apple’s manufacturing back to the U.S. — no matter that it’s a pledge he cannot possibly fulfill.

The hopes of conservative techies won’t die with Bush’s candidacy. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — the field’s Bush 2.0, who scored a surprise second-place finish in South Carolina as his mentor sunk — has arguably gone further than any of his competitors to associate himself with the sector. He devoted a chapter in his book to how regulations should make room for Uber. Over the last two years, he’s delivered a series of speeches to tech audiences to articulate his industry-friendly program. And he’s earned valuable support in return, including a recent $1 million check from Oracle founder Larry Ellison for a super PAC supporting his bid.

Rubio is emerging from South Carolina renewed in his status as the establishment’s last, best hope to stop Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. True to form, in the encryption debate, he’s offering a position much friendlier to Apple and the tech giants that have rallied to its defense. But Rubio has also shown himself more willing than Bush to accommodate himself to the populist anger convulsing the electorate. If he smashes his iPhone at a campaign rally, Cook can start worrying.

About the Author
By Tory Newmyer
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Leadership

ls
Commentarybooks
Confessions of an award-winning AI memoirist — the ‘slop’ debate isn’t really about good writing, and you know it
By Luke StoffelJuly 22, 2026
12 minutes ago
b
Commentarythe future of work
Manpower President: The future of work question that even CEOs can’t answer
By Becky FrankiewiczJuly 22, 2026
12 minutes ago
nela
Successdisruption
Exclusive: Stanford and ADP have new payroll data on Gen Z women losing ground to men in the job market—and AI isn’t the main culprit
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
42 minutes ago
L-R: Elon Musk and Ray Dalio.
InnovationRay Dalio
Ray Dalio warned Elon Musk against betting all his money on Mars exploration: The SpaceX CEO said there was ‘no need’ for a backup plan
By Eleanor PringleJuly 22, 2026
1 hour ago
Samsung’s North America CEO says the smartphone is just an entry point to ambient AI of the home
NewslettersCEO Daily
Samsung’s North America CEO says the smartphone is just an entry point to ambient AI of the home
By Diane BradyJuly 22, 2026
3 hours ago
George Soros never signed the Giving Pledge. He’s given away more of his fortune than the billionaires who did
Successphilanthropy
George Soros never signed the Giving Pledge. He’s given away more of his fortune than the billionaires who did
By Sydney LakeJuly 22, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
16 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
19 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
21 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.