Fox’s Martha MacCallum interviewed John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, Wednesday about the various ways the Biden White House dealt with Elon Musk, Twitter owner, and Tim Cook CEO. Kirby said that Apple was a private company when it came to Cook’s actions which could have hurt the free speech rights of protesters in China.
MacCallum inquired why the White House was talking about monitoring Twitter while Elon Musk wanted free speech. Kirby replied that it was “apples to oranges” and MacCallum speculated that the “free Speech Suppression Twitter Files” Musk suggested might contain information about the Biden team’s pressure to use Twitter.
Fox Business’ Hillary Vaughn then tracked down Apple CEO Tim Cook, while he was at Capitol on Thursday for meetings. She asked Cook why he seemed to be helping the Chinese government with these restrictions.
🚨WATCH: Apple CEO Tim Cook ignores our questions on China as zero-COVID lockdown protests rage in the country. Full video 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/m0NpgRN6U4
— Hillary Vaughn (@hillary__vaughn) December 1, 2022
Vaughn also inquired about whether the government was beating workers at the Apple factory and whether it was a problem doing business with the CCP, which suppresses human rights. Cook did not respond.
Cook is so deluded about China! Let’s listen:
Flashback!@Apple’s @tim_cook in 2017: “China has done an unbelievable job of lifting people out of poverty … far beyond what any country has done… we should all applaud that … And the environmental leadership today, is very clear & it aligns completely with Apple’s values” pic.twitter.com/F1TW9PLVjU
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 30, 2022
Cook visited the Capitol Thursday to meet with Republican leaders. They were concerned about the suppression of speech, antitrust questions regarding the App store, and other issues. We reported that he appeared to have reached an agreement with Elon Musk, and said there was no threat of removing Twitter from the App Store. Maybe the Republican legislators’ inquiries about what was happening helped Apple to move away from this threat.
The stark differences in how Biden’s team dealt with Musk and Cook were also evident later in the day. Cook and Lisa Jackson, one of his top Vice Presidentials, were invited to the state dinner Joe Biden hosted for Emmanual Macron.
Tim Cook arrives at White House state dinner
Watch live: https://t.co/fOUNhMlScS pic.twitter.com/FxP58yk3ZL
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 1, 2022
Cook was seated at Biden’s head table during the dinner. This says it all.
Among those seated at the head table with President Biden tonight: Tim Cook, CEO of @Apple.
A world away, meanwhile, the CCP more easily mops up and silences Chinese protestors thanks to a critical assist from Mr. Cook.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) December 2, 2022
Biden was already in trouble for the dinner when he was criticized by Jared Golden (Democratic Representative from Maine) for serving lobster at dinner and failing to fulfill his promise to remove restrictions he imposed upon lobster fishing.
Biden’s hypocrisy was evident at the dinner. Cook could help the CCP, and not only would he not be called out by the Biden team but he would also be invited to one the most sought-after dinners at the White House. Biden and his staff have made Musk suffer from all sorts of insults for supporting free speech for Americans and other people. This speaks volumes about Biden’s priorities, and how his team views free speech. It also speaks volumes about their inability to press China publicly, when they should be loudly condemning CCP’s actions.
