President Donald Trump apparently doesn’t have many friends in Alphabet’s executive ranks.
Speaking during an employee meeting at Alphabet’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Last week, Schmidt reportedly took aim at Trump and his administration, saying that it’s “going to do these evil things as they’ve done in the immigration area and perhaps some others.” Schmidt’s comments came alongside similarly sharp words from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, among other executives, according to BuzzFeed News, which obtained a copy of the meeting’s transcript from an unidentified source.
Schmidt’s comments were part of a broader discussion on what he believes the Trump administration has planned over the next four years. He reportedly told employees that the administration is focused on “economic growth,” adding that the President should be expected to increase government spending and make attempts at “overcoming the Tea Party” as part of that effort.
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Schmidt’s alleged statements come amid growing controversy surrounding the President and his administration following last week’s ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Protests sprung up at airports in cities across the U.S. Over the weekend and several prominent technology executives—including Apple CEO Tim Cook (AAPL) and Google co-founder Sergey Brin (GOOGL)—sounded their disapproval and alarm over the move.
Brin, who came to the U.S. From the USSR as a child during the Cold War, spoke before a crowd of protesters over the weekend. He was joined by Pichai.
“This country was brave and welcoming and I wouldn’t be where I am today or have any kind of the life that I have today if this was not a brave country that really stood out and spoke for liberty,” Brin said.
Meanwhile, the President has remained steadfast in his decision, saying that he’s protecting Americans against possible threats—a claim that technology executives and other critics have consistently scoffed at, adding that the executive order actually amounts to an assault on human rights.
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Schmidt’s comments, which have not been confirmed by Alphabet, come after the chairman met on two occasions last year with the President at Trump Tower in New York City. It’s unknown what those discussions centered on, but apparently failed to get the two men close. Trump and Schmidt’s relationship stands in stark contrast to the one Schmidt had with President Obama, who considered the Alphabet chairman one of his closest allies in the technology community.
According to Vice, which also obtained a copy of the transcript, an unidentified Google employee during the event called the Trump administration “a fascist regime,” and was joined by another employee who asked how Google would address it. Schmidt reassured the employees that Alphabet and its Google subsidiary will work to fight anything they deem inappropriate.
“These prejudicial actions are discriminatory and anti-globalization, and I did everything I could to cause a different outcome,” Schmidt reportedly said. “There are limits to what we can do, there’s no question if the company is asked to do something that’s counter to our values, we would oppose it and actively fight it.”
Alphabet did not immediately respond to a Coins2Day request for comment.