Apple will co-host a Democratic presidential debate in February, even as candidates focus on breaking up big tech companies like Apple

Associated Press/Damian Dovarganes; Associated Press/John Minchillo; Associated Press/Charles Krupa

Progressive Democratic presidential candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have criticized the power and wealth of big tech companies like Apple.

• Apple News will partner with ABC to co-host the 8th Democratic presidential debate on Feb. 7, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday.
• It will be the first debate Apple has hosted. Twitter will also co-host the 10th Democratic debate on Feb. 25.
• Some Democratic candidates for president have made breaking up big tech a focus of their campaigns, targeting Silicon Valley companies like Apple.
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Apple News will co-host a Democratic presidential debate in February, a first for the tech company's news service.

Apple will partner with ABC to host the eighth Democratic debate on Feb. 7 in Manchester, New Hampshire, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday.

The new partnership comes even as some Democratic candidates have criticized big tech companies like Apple. Progressive candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have been the loudest critics of big tech companies, calling for some of the largest to be broken up and taxed more heavily.

Warren said in March that she saw Apple as an unfair monopoly that should be broken up, criticizing the control the company exerts over competitors' listings in the App Store. Sanders also slammed Apple on the campaign trail, claiming that the company "has helped create California's housing crisis."

An Apple spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple isn't the first tech company to help host a Democratic debate. Facebook c0-hosted debates in 2012 and 2016, but is absent from the debate roster announced by the DNC this year. Twitter and YouTube have also both provided questions for moderators at presidential debates in the past. Twitter is slated to co-host a debate with CBS News on Feb. 25.

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