In a sign of the times, a number of tech luminaries over the weekend, a group which included Tim Cook, Elon Musk and even Napster co-founder Sean Parker, all congregated on a private island resort off the coast of Georgia where the topic of discussion centered on how to stop the growing momentum of Donald Trump.
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Originally relayed by The Huffington Post, the somewhat secretive meeting transpired at the American Enterprise Institute’s annual World Forum.
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.
In addition to the aforementioned group of tech bigwigs, a group which also included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, there were also a number of political figures in attendance, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Karl Rove.
Though Trump’s Presidential run may have initially been viewed as something of an entertaining joke, many Republicans are none too thrilled that the controversial Trump remains a frontrunner this far into election season.
In addition to all things Trump, one of the issues discussed at the resort focused on mobile device encryption, a hot-button issue in the wake of Apple’s reluctance to assist the FBI in hacking into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Specifically, the report relays that Tim Cook got into a particularly heated debate with Arkansas senator Tom Cotton on the topic.
“Cotton was pretty harsh on Cook,” a source told The Huffington Post, “everyone was a little uncomfortable about how hostile Cotton was.”
Returning to Trump for a second, the Presidential nominee has been rather outspoken about his support for the FBI as it battles Apple over mobile encryption.
Just about three weeks ago, Trump said that Americans should boycott Apple products unless the company agrees to help the FBI.
“To think that Apple won’t allow us to get into her cellphone? Who do they think they are? No, we have to open it,” Trump explained at a rally last month. “I agree 100% with the courts. In that case, we should open it up. I think security overall — we have to open it up.”
