While Cook was enjoying his popcorn and champagne with the likes of Mike Tyson, Tony Robbins, and other “VIPs”, it was complete and utter chaos on the streets of Minnesota. Just hours earlier, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot and killed by ICE agents. Maybe, just maybe, postpone the movie premiere?
Of course, President Trump was never going to do that because the official White House stance is that Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” and the agents were acting in self defense. And never mind that this was the second such murder in the past 17 days, the show must go on!
But it didn’t have to for Cook. He could have, and should have, backed out of the event. Obviously. The fact that he didn’t either suggests horrible judgement on his part or worse, cowardice. This is a man and leader of one of the biggest and most important businesses in the world who had long been thought to have a great moral compass.
He has lost his way.
M.G. Siegler
I’ve heard the same point about Tim Cook’s ‘moral compass’ in a podcast the other day and I couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough. It takes an incredible amount of naivete – or rather self-delusion – to think the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation has any guiding principle aside from his own wealth and status. This whole concept that Apple and by extension its leadership is somehow more moral or righteous than its competitors can only be explained, I suspect, by Apple fans retroactively constructing this narrative to justify their unflinching loyalty to the brand.