Apple CEO Tim Cook says no one involved in the Capitol uprising is above the law

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” that anyone with a role in the insurgency on Capitol Hill last week should be held accountable. Cook did not exempt President Donald Trump from this statement.

“I don’t think anyone is above the law,” Cook told CBS’s Gayle King in a clip released Tuesday. “I mean that’s the great thing about our country, we are a country of the rule of law. I think everyone who participated in it should be held accountable.”

Cook said events are not something the country should just look to get out of, although he ultimately said “we have to move forward.”

“I don’t think we should let go,” Cook said. “I think it’s important to empower people.”

Apple on Saturday withdrew Talk, an alternative social media app, from its App Store after discovering it was being used to broadcast calls for violence in the wake of the Capitol Riots, in violation of its rules against objectionable content.

Cook maintained a relatively close but balanced relationship with Trump during his tenure. While Cook criticized key Trump policies like his decision to end DACA, the Obama-era program that protects some immigrants from deportation, and organized a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2016, he was successful. to gain Trump’s support more than many other Big Tech companies.

The relationship arguably paid off by allowing Apple to repatriate cash at lower tax rates and exempt its products from tariffs on products imported into China.

King said the interview with Cook was pre-scheduled to unveil a “big announcement” on Wednesday when the full interview airs. King said the announcement was not about a new product.

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