Presidential candidate Donald Trump is calling on his supporters to boycott Apple until it agrees to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
“What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time they give that security number,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina on Friday.
“I just thought of it,” the GOP frontrunner added. “Boycott Apple.”
{mosads}Apple this week defied a court order to assist authorities in bypassing security features on a phone belonging to one of the attackers in the San Bernardino, Calif., assault that left 14 people dead.
The company argued such assistance would amount to creating a “back door” into all iPhones that could be exploited by hackers and foreign spies.
But Republicans have lashed out at the company, calling the move a marketing ploy.
“Tim Cook is looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is,” Trump said.
Trump initially came out against Apple’s decision only hours after the company revealed its stance.
“Who do they think they are?” the real estate mogul said.
Trump immediately took heat for the comments after many people noted past tweets from his account had been sent from an iPhone.
The Trump campaign also previously spent a nominal $108 at the Apple Store in New York.
Other Republican presidential candidates have come out against Apple’s decision this week, but in a more tempered manner.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich told the Associated Press, “I don’t think it’s an example of government overreach to say that, you know, we had terrorists here on our soil and we’ve got to understand more detail about who they may have been communicating with.”
At a Wednesday night town hall, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) insisted Apple had a serious argument and called the debate a “tough issue,” before ultimately siding with the FBI.
Sen. Marco Rubio said he understood the security concerns behind Apple’s argument, but hasn’t taken a firm stance.
“I don’t have a magic solution for it today,” he told CNN. “It’s complicated.”
This story was updated at 4:11 p.m.