aNewDomain –“I just thought of it: Boycott Apple,” Republican frontrunner Donald Trump extemporized the day before winning the South Carolina primary. “Boycott Apple until such time as they give that information. Apple ought to give the security for that phone, okay?”
Trump’s call referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement that the tech company would fight a court order requiring it to comply with the FBI’s request that it unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernadino shooters so investigators can determine if anyone else was involved, and whether he had direct contacts with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Unlocking the device would require Apple to write new code to circumvent the security protections embedded in the current operating system in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden revelations. Apple worries that complying with this order would create a dangerous precedent, a “back door” government agencies could use indiscriminately — as the NSA was doing before the 2013 Snowden leaks — to invade customers’ privacy.
The law enforcement establishment, in a position supported by Trump, says it only wants access to this one phone, this one time, to help it investigate a horrific mass shooting.
Anyway, Trump wants us to stop using Apple products in order to support the Obama Administration’s position (yes, irony). Which naturally prompts the question: Which phone does The Donald use?
“I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn’t give info to authorities on the terrorists I’ll only be using Samsung until they give info,” Trump tweeted on February 19th. But does he really use iPhones?
If he does, he’s a closet user.
Here’s a recent photo of Trump with his 2012 Samsung Galaxy S III (S3). That’s a closeup shot of one in his hand, at right.
For aNewDomain and the new SkewedNews, I’m Ted Rall.
Cover image: Gizmodo.com, All Rights Reserved.
