Tim Cook mourns ‘sad and shameful’ day, says ‘we must complete the transition’ to the Biden administration

Apple CEO Tim Cook has become one of the early technology executives to weigh in on the events that unfolded in Washington D.C. today. Following a mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol this afternoon, Cook is calling on “those responsible for this insurrection to be held to account.”

The Apple CEO, who has had both a strained and at times friendly relationship with Trump, said that today “marks a sad and shameful chapter” in the history of the United States. While calling for those responsible to be held to account, Cook also said that “we must complete the transition” to President-elect Biden’s incoming administration.

Cook wrote on Twitter:

“Today marks a sad and shameful chapter in our nation’s history. Those responsible for this insurrection should be held to account, and we must complete the transition to President-elect Biden’s administration. It’s especially when they are challenged that our ideals matter most.”

Image via The New York Times

The relationship between Cook and Trump has been an interesting one to follow over the last four years. The Apple CEO has long stated his belief that it’s much better to be involved in the conversation, particularly when you disagree, than it is to be on the sidelines.

In addition to Cook’s comment, Twitter is locking President Trump’s account for 12 hours. The company says that Trump must remove three tweets that contained “repeated and severe violations” of its civic integrity policy. If Trump does not remove the three tweets in question, the account will remain locked.

Furthermore, Twitter says that “future violations of the Twitter rules” by Trump will result in the permanent suspension of his account. The Twitter Safety account tweeted the following statement.

“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC, we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked. Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Finally, Facebook has also taken action against President Trump’s account following today’s events. As first reported by Mike Issac, Facebook is blocking Trump from posting for 24 hours. A spokesperson for the company explained that there were two policy violations against the Trump page:

“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the spokesperson said to Issac.