Nancy Pelosi on Apple CEO's Republican support: 'Poor Tim'

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U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks at a news conference with members of the House Democratic leadership following the House vote on the Omnibus bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Thomson Reuters

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to hold a fundraiser for Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and other House Republicans on Tuesday in Menlo Park, California.

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At least one powerful Democrat thinks that's a horrible decision.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - who represents San Francisco - essentially said that she thought that Cook was making a mistake in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

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"Poor Tim. What a nice guy he is, but somebody gave him bad advice," Pelosi told the Chronicle. "He probably doesn't think that much about politics," she added.

The Democratic leader argued that when Cook and other Silicon Valley giants support the Republican party, they are tacitly supporting presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

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"But when they say, 'We don't like what Trump says, but we'll donate to his party,' they're either naive or they think we're naive," Pelosi said.

The news that Cook would be hosting a Republican fundraiser came shortly after it was learned that Apple would not be providing financial support or computers for the Republican presidential convention in Cleveland, Ohio later this summer.

Cook doesn't often publicly comment on his political beliefs, but he has been an advocate for certain issues, including climate change and gay rights.

In 2015, Cook wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post arguing against Republican-supported "religious freedom" laws that could be used to discriminate against gay couples.

Cook and other Apple leaders were notably missing from a list of business leaders supporting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released earlier this week.

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