J.D. Vance shouldn't open his mouth about Apple if he doesn't have a clue

Posted:
in iPhone edited September 12

Prospective Republican vice president nominee J.D. Vance attacked Apple with accusations of the iPhone maker using Chinese slave labor. Unsurprisingly, he's incredibly wrong, and a five-minute Google search would have made that clear.

Bearded man in a suit and tie in front of a modern Apple store with a glass facade displaying colorful artwork and wooden tables.
Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance



As the U.S. election roadshow continues to run until November's polling day, candidates and their parties are continuing to try and gain column-inches any way they can. For J.D. Vance, the Republican vice president nominee running alongside former president Donald Trump, this has now led to him attacking Apple with about the most nonsensical claim possible.

On Thursday, Vance used his appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" to talk about taxes and tariffs. However, as part of his discussions about how companies relying on China for manufacturing should be taxed, he had to have a little dig at Apple.

"Do I think Apple is an evil company? No," Vance offers as a vague compliment to the company ahead of a more damning accusation.

"Do I think that sometimes they [Apple] benefit from Chinese slave labor?" Vance continued. "Yeah, and that's pretty sick."

It is unclear exactly where Vance gets the idea from, other than social media influencers who also have no idea what they're talking about or have a clear agenda. Presumably, the guy is smart and we know he has an iPhone.

It would have been ludicrously easy to find out the truth. Instead he made the active choice to make the claim and rile up the devout.

Here -- we're going to make the search even shorter than 30 seconds.

On Apple's side, it has put effort into shutting down any operations where slave labor is discovered. The Apple Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Responsibility Standards include protections and requirements that apply to all suppliers, including prohibiting forced or slave labor.

In cases where suppliers were allegedly found to be violating human rights, Apple has consistently stepped in to investigate the matter. For example, following allegations against supplier O-Film Technology in 2020, Apple used independent third-party investigators and surprise audits.

In the end, Apple found no evidence of wrongdoing. At the time, Apple insisted it would continue monitoring.

With Apple actively working to avoid the use of slave labor, Vance's comment has no basis in fact.

U.S. wages and tariff increases



Vance continued the Apple attack by offering "I think that a company that wants to benefit from American markets should also have to pay American workers a fair wage."

Evidently, he isn't aware that Apple raised the starting wage for its retail workforce to $22 an hour in May 2022. It did this two years ago.

Or maybe he feels that $22 per hour isn't a decent wage at all. After all, it is a mere three times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and $7 more than the $15 level that is frequently campaigned about -- but not by him or his party.

According to federal disclosures, Vance possesses between $4 million and $11 million in assets, including stakes in two businesses and a hefty brokerage account. He may not even be aware or fully care what minimum wage actually is anymore.

Vance's tariffs claim doesn't hold water either



Vance went on to declare that there should be higher tariffs to prevent companies from "shipping jobs overseas." By this, he means manufacturing outside of U.S. borders.

Factory workers wearing white uniforms and caps assemble electronics on a production line, with the word Foxconn visible on a device.
The majority of Apple's manufacturing uses overseas partners.



This echoes sentiments from Trump in wanting to place tariffs between 60% and 100% on goods shipped in from China. Other countries aren't safe either with tariffs of 10% to 20% on imported goods in general also on the chopping block.

The tariffs sound like Apple CEO Tim Cook will have to cozy up to Trump once more to avoid the effects of another Trump-China trade war.

And Vance's party insists that companies will eat these charges, or the Chinese manufacturer will. That has never been the case.

In every tariff case, US companies have hiked prices to offset the extra fees.

Even if such tariffs came into force, Apple's supply chain could work to mitigate and minimize the impact. The company is in the middle of a diversification effort, expanding operations in Vietnam and India, with the new manufacturing bases able to offset the China-specific fees.

Attention seeking and cats



The comments against Apple are part of the long and grueling slog that is the election cycle. Unfortunately, as candidates seek to gain the most attention from prospective voters, politicians often include accusations that are wildly off base from reality.

For example, as a U.S. senator for Ohio, he has repeated claims that Haitian illegal immigrants in Springfield "draining social services and generally causing chaos." Vance added that there were reports of their pets being abducted and eaten by the immigrants.

The off-the-wall claim was echoed by Trump during his first debate with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, Trump asserted, adding that cats and other pets were being consumed.

Two men in suits are sitting at a table in conversation, with an American flag and a white ornate fireplace in the background.
Apple CEO Tim Cook [left] talking to former president Donald Trump [right]
Fact-checking

resulted in some pushback against Trump, with Springfield officials insisting there were "no credible reports" that it actually happened.

However, Trump insisted it to be true, as he saw people talking about it on television -- meaning alt-right YouTube channels and his running mate. Vance's post to X was intended to back up Trump's televised outburst.

Since the debate and the continued accusations of improper petcare that to date, he wants his followers to repeat, the increased attention on Springfield has led to more inevitable actions. On Thursday morning, the police responded to a bomb threat.

There was also Vance's 2021 jibe against the Biden administration being a "bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."

The 2024 resurfacing of the comment didn't go well, with Vance playing it off as a sarcastic remark. Pop star Taylor Swift brought it back up again by signing off her endorsement of Harris with the term "Childless Cat Lady."

Predictably, Vance took the bait. He proposed that Americans aren't going to be "influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans."

You know, just like a politician that has up to $11 million in disclosed assets.

Vance could've let the jibe go. He had to open his mouth and attack someone famous enough to have 284 million followers on Instagram. It predictably went about as well as you'd expect.

With just under two months before the polls open and voting can take place, you can expect even more claims to surface from political parties as they try to keep relevant.

Some will actually be factual, but not in this case. American elections are better when there's at least a passing acquaintance with the truth, and there's none to be found here.



Read on AppleInsider

Graeme000dewmebaconstangroundaboutnowBart Ydanox
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 111
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,609member
    It's a sad reflection on the fear-mongering negativity one side is using. Personally, I'm a huge fan of lifting us all up instead.

    Above all: Don't believe whatever comes out of the mouth of a selfishly-guided politician just because he said it. Most are all too happy to promote half-truths, mostly lie, or outright lie in order to "win". I'm sorry, but it is no win for us to be misled, and only find out what we were buying after he's already in office; telling us what we can and can't do without being asked again. They don't care if we agreed. They will be the ones in the power chair and will tell us, dictator style, not ask. 
    edited September 12 ssfe11mike1StrangeDaysronnGraeme000jeffharrisdewme12Strangersbaconstangdjames4242
  • Reply 2 of 111
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,667member
    In other news, immigrants in Springfield steal and eat others' dogs and eat them. 

    Who the fuck cares what bullshit JD Vance spouts, unless it's subsequently picked up by Tr*mp to utterly embarrass himself to a worldwide audience? 
    muthuk_vanalingammike1Andy.Hardwakejeffharris12Strangersssfe11sconosciutoOferVictorMortimerNotSoMuch
  • Reply 3 of 111
    gatorguy said:
    I'm sorry, but it is no win for us to be misled.
    You mean the last four years of a vegetable behind the Resolute Desk? I get it, Trump and Vance aren't anything close to beacons of honesty. But you're deluding yourself if you think the current administration and Kamala are somehow better, and deserving of the office.
    neillwdkdupuis77JanNLtimpetuslibertyandfreeeim23xh2pargonautsdw2001Draco
  • Reply 4 of 111
    Clueless idiot. Oh and btw Springfield do you know that your pets are getting eaten?  Fido is being roasted up right now. Smh you can’t even make this stuff up!
    edited September 12 StrangeDaysronnsphericbaconstangOferNotSoMuchBart Ydavdanoxmarklark
  • Reply 5 of 111
    The whole point of tariffs is to increase the domestic prices of the goods that are subject to tariffs. It makes them less competitive versus the goods that don't have the tariff. The problem with just generally slapping a tariff on anything manufactured in China is the sheer volume of products that it would impact. In many cases, American consumers wouldn't have a cheaper choice. Everything would be priced higher due to the tariffs. 
    ssfe11mike1gatorguyronnjeffharrisspheric12StrangersbaconstangOferBart Y
  • Reply 6 of 111
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,609member
    sbdude said:
    gatorguy said:
    I'm sorry, but it is no win for us to be misled.
    You mean the last four years of a vegetable behind the Resolute Desk? I get it, Trump and Vance aren't anything close to beacons of honesty. But you're deluding yourself if you think the current administration and Kamala are somehow better, and deserving of the office.
    I don't think I stipulated any particular party on that particular point. YOU should not believe what your parties chosen candidate says just because you seriously dislike the other party and anyone/anything connected to them, and thus want it to be taken as truth.

    That said, 162 either outright lies or misleading statements in a single press conference by a Presidential candidate must be a near-record for modern American politics. 
    https://www.npr.org/2024/08/11/nx-s1-5070566/trump-news-conference

    So what's the takeaway? Do your own research.
    “Whatever it takes to win”, “whaddabout those other guys”, and/or ignoring egregiously bad behavior does a disservice to every one of us. 

    EDIT: It seriously scares me when one of the candidates openly threatens to approach the Presidency in the style of dictator, and SCOTUS, with one eye closed, gives him a broad stick to wield against his enemies, whether real or imagined. 
    https://apnews.com/article/trump-hannity-dictator-authoritarian-presidential-election-f27e7e9d7c13fabbe3ae7dd7f1235c72
    edited September 12 muthuk_vanalingammike1StrangeDaysronnGraeme000jeffharristmaywonkothesane12Strangersbaconstang
  • Reply 7 of 111
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,921administrator
    spheric said:
    In other news, immigrants in Springfield steal and eat others' dogs and eat them. 

    Who the fuck cares what bullshit JD Vance spouts, unless it's subsequently picked up by Tr*mp to utterly embarrass himself to a worldwide audience? 
    Yup, this is addressed in the piece.
    gatorguyronn12Strangersbaconstangdanoxwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 111
    I’m an Apple fan but Apple has definitely been caught using slave labour, and I’ve seen no evidence they have removed all slave labour from their supply chain.  Remember all the suicides at Foxconn too?  The conditions they work in are not great. 
    edited September 12 kdupuis77tiredskillslibertyandfreeh2pargonautdiman80
  • Reply 9 of 111
    sbdude said:
    gatorguy said:
    I'm sorry, but it is no win for us to be misled.
    You mean the last four years of a vegetable behind the Resolute Desk? I get it, Trump and Vance aren't anything close to beacons of honesty. But you're deluding yourself if you think the current administration and Kamala are somehow better, and deserving of the office.
    Ah the "both sides!" trope. Nope. I've been an independent voter most my life, and 100% one side is worse. Hint: it's the one lying about immigrants eating pets.
    gatorguyronnGraeme000jeffharrisspherictmaytiredskillsrue12Strangersbaconstang
  • Reply 10 of 111
    He should stick with what he knows best - couches and the pros/cons of the various upholstery options
    StrangeDaysronnjeffharrissphericdewme12StrangersbaconstangsconosciutoOferVictorMortimer
  • Reply 11 of 111

    The whole point of tariffs is to increase the domestic prices of the goods that are subject to tariffs. It makes them less competitive versus the goods that don't have the tariff. The problem with just generally slapping a tariff on anything manufactured in China is the sheer volume of products that it would impact. In many cases, American consumers wouldn't have a cheaper choice. Everything would be priced higher due to the tariffs. 
    Also worth pointing out that the foreign nation (China) does *not* pay these tariffs, the US-based importers and distributors do. And they just pass it on in the form of a higher price tag, as you've described. 
    ronnspherictmaydewme12Strangersbaconstangssfe11sconosciutoOferBart Y
  • Reply 12 of 111
    spheric said:
    In other news, immigrants in Springfield steal and eat others' dogs and eat them. 

    Who the fuck cares what bullshit JD Vance spouts, unless it's subsequently picked up by Tr*mp to utterly embarrass himself to a worldwide audience? 
    ssfe11 said:
    Clueless idiot. Oh and btw Springfield do you know that your pets are getting eaten?  Fido is being roasted up right now. Smh you can’t even make this stuff up!
    As someone born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, one of the best things about my hometown was being able to grab someone's dog for lunch on the way to school.

    Good times...   :D
    StrangeDayscomcastsucksjeffharristhtspherictmaydewme12Strangersbaconstangssfe11
  • Reply 13 of 111
    dee_dee said:
    I’m an Apple fan but Apple has definitely been caught using slave labour, and I’ve seen no evidence they have removed all slave labour from their supply chain.  Remember all the suicides at Foxconn too?  The conditions they work in are not great. 
    Foxconn's suicide rate was lower than the national average in China. Foxconn worker pay also far exceeded rural worker pay, which is why people go there to work. 

    Can you link us to the "slave labor" data? 
    ronnthtspherictmayruedewme12Strangersbaconstangssfe11roundaboutnow
  • Reply 14 of 111
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,921administrator
    dee_dee said:
    I’m an Apple fan but Apple has definitely been caught using slave labour, and I’ve seen no evidence they have removed all slave labour from their supply chain.  Remember all the suicides at Foxconn too?  The conditions they work in are not great. 
    Foxconn's suicide rate was lower than the national average in China. Foxconn worker pay also far exceeded rural worker pay, which is why people go there to work. 

    Can you link us to the "slave labor" data? 
    They can't.

    Also, proving a negative is a logical fallacy.
    thtsphericdewmebaconstangsconosciutoOferBart Ydavmacxpresswatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 111
    lotones said:
    As someone born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, one of the best things about my hometown was being able to grab someone's dog for lunch on the way to school.

    Good times...   :D
    I'm jealous.
    spheric12StrangersMacProilarynxdavlotoneswatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 111
    dee_dee said:
    I’m an Apple fan but Apple has definitely been caught using slave labour, and I’ve seen no evidence they have removed all slave labour from their supply chain.  Remember all the suicides at Foxconn too?  The conditions they work in are not great. 
    Foxconn's suicide rate was lower than the national average in China. Foxconn worker pay also far exceeded rural worker pay, which is why people go there to work. 

    Can you link us to the "slave labor" data? 
    They can't.

    Also, proving a negative is a logical fallacy.
    Ehh… take your pick…

    https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/say7m6/a_list_of_articles_explaining_that_apple_uses/
    VictorMortimer
  • Reply 17 of 111
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,921administrator
    factsonly said:
    dee_dee said:
    I’m an Apple fan but Apple has definitely been caught using slave labour, and I’ve seen no evidence they have removed all slave labour from their supply chain.  Remember all the suicides at Foxconn too?  The conditions they work in are not great. 
    Foxconn's suicide rate was lower than the national average in China. Foxconn worker pay also far exceeded rural worker pay, which is why people go there to work. 

    Can you link us to the "slave labor" data? 
    They can't.

    Also, proving a negative is a logical fallacy.
    Ehh… take your pick…

    https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/say7m6/a_list_of_articles_explaining_that_apple_uses/
    Feel free to review the veracity of the sources.

    Accused != is happening.

    I've got a lot of other stuff going on, as you may expect. Response times may be long.
    edited September 12 Graeme000spheric12Strangersbaconstangdjames4242sconosciutoOferBart Ydavwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 111
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,977member
    Unfortunately, the US has gone off the rails with regards to foreign policy, and technology related foreign policy is an important part of that. Along with agriculture which is also in line for a BRICS related shock.

    Both main parties have little to no clue about the intricacies of the technology world and I am yet to see anyone with a coherent stance on policy decisions. It's just doubling down on more of the same. 

    You would have thought the tariffs ideology would have been abandoned after the billions that had to be ploughed into US agriculture under Trump but here we are with Chinese EV tariffs. 

    It's all very 'old school' and causing a huge amount of self harm to US interests at home (and abroad). 

    A certain independence for semi-conductor production and associated subsidies to make that happen are common goals around the world. The EU has been following a similar goal for years now. So is China. 

    However, TSMC made it clear from the outset that chips manufactured on US soil would cost a lot more than the same chips produced elsewhere. That's assuming qualified staff can be found to get the plants up and running. There is no way that any iPhone produced on US soil will be competitive and imposing import tariffs will just slow down the industry as a whole. 

    Apple can only do so much. No doubt there have been abuses along the way but you implement protocols to weed out problem cases within the sourcing, refining, manufacturing and assembly industries. You audit and present the results. That is how it is.





    ronnmuthuk_vanalingamBart Y
  • Reply 19 of 111
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,609member
    spheric said:
    In other news, immigrants in Springfield steal and eat others' dogs and eat them. 

    Who the fuck cares what bullshit JD Vance spouts, unless it's subsequently picked up by Tr*mp to utterly embarrass himself to a worldwide audience? 
    What would be humorous if it weren't so childish is a hardcore dedicated-MAGA fight over that dog-eating story fed to Mr. Trump. Now they're fighting with each other.


    sphericronn12StrangersanonymousesconosciutoilarynxVictorMortimerdav
  • Reply 20 of 111
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 1,082member
    Unbelievable! JD Vance just apologized for these remarks! Yes, he said they were wrong and incomplete. What he meant to say is that Apple manufactures its products with Chinese slave labor that is only fed the pets from Springfield, Ohio that are being exported to China as quickly as DHL can them there. Whew! I'm glad he fixed that. 
    dewme12Strangersbaconstangssfe11ilarynxBart Ylotoneswatto_cobra
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