Tim Cook announces $2 million in donations after Charlottesville

Apple CEO Tim Cook condemned racism in a letter to Apple employees Wednesday, announcing donations to civil rights advocacy organizations and pushing back on President Trump’s “both sides” argument on the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.

“Hate is a cancer, and left unchecked it destroys everything in its path,” he wrote in the letter obtained by The Hill, first reported by Buzzfeed.

He said that Apple will be making donations of $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and to the Anti-Defamation League. He added that Apple will also match employee donations to those and similar organizations until Sept. 30.

{mosads}Cook also fought back on the president’s assertion that there is blame on “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, where one dead and numerous others injured when a car was driven into a group of protesters, allegedly by a man attending the white supremacist rally.

“I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights,” Cook wrote. “Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans.”

He added that he does not believe that he is making a political statement in his letter but that his message is instead about “human decency and morality.”

“Regardless of your political views, we must all stand together on this one point — that we are all equal,” he said.

Trump has been facing heavy criticism after he claimed twice that there was blame on “both sides” for the violent clashes in Charlottesville.

This story was updated at 8:53 a.m. Ali Breland contributed.