Apple CEO Tim Cook took a jab at Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway over 'alternative facts'

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Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken out against US president Donald Trump once again.

According to 9to5Mac, Cook took a sideswipe against one of the president's most important advisors, Kellyanne Conway, over her phrase "alternative facts."

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Accepting the Free Expression Award at the Newseum in Washington DC, Cook said: "We must be open to alternative points of view, not alternative facts."

Conway famously coined the phrase "alternative facts" in January, while defending White House press secretary Sean Spicer's misstatements about the size of Donald Trump's inauguration crowds. Photos proved that fewer people turned out for Trump's inauguration than for Barack Obama's, but Spicer insisted otherwise. Conway went on to call his comments "alternative facts" in press interviews.

In his speech, Cook noted that expression and art were now different from what the founding fathers had in mind.

"James Madison probably wasn't imagining a hip-hop artist ... but today, we do," he said.

Referring to the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech, Cook added: "We know that these freedoms require protection. Not just the forms of speech that entertain us, but the ones that challenge us. The ones that unnerve and even displease us. They're the ones that need protection the most. It's no accident that these freedoms are enshrined and protected in the First Amendment. They are the foundation to so many of our rights."

He also said Apple took the First Amendment "very seriously."

He said: "First we defend, we work to defend these freedoms by enabling people around the world to speak up. And second, we do it by speaking up ourselves. Because companies can, and should have values."

Cook has taken a stand against Trump's administration before, criticizing the president's botched immigration order. Apple also fought the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters last year, refusing to help hack the phone.