Ban Tim Cook To Stop Ebola: Russian Politician Loses It Over Apple CEO Coming Out

You had to know it was coming, and now it’s here. With Tim Cook’s public acknowledgement of his sexuality still rippling through the news, the haters have made themselves known, and one is actually calling for a travel ban on Cook. Because of Ebola.

Tim Cook’s sexuality has been one of the only things Apple hasn’t been able to keep secret for a few years now, but it was never too much of an issue because it was never really brought up. That’s probably because Cook himself never brought it up, as well as the fact that it appears to have no bearing on his ability to perform his job as the head of the cash-printing-est company in the world.

On Thursday, though, Cook saw fit to come forward and publicly acknowledge that he is gay, publishing a column for Bloomberg Businessweek in which he said that “being gay [is] among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

Much of the reaction has been positive, with celebration, encouragement,, and general support coming from many corners of the internet. Of course, though, the naysayers had to show up eventually.

The first to speak out was Russian politician Vitaly Milonov, who – as PinkNews points out – is the same politician behind St. Petersburg’s anti-gay laws that were adopted by the Russian Duma. Milonov was quick to point out the true danger of an American CEO saying he was gay; he might bring Ebola to Russia.

No, really. Ebola.

“What could he bring us?” Milonov asked FlashNord. “The Ebola virus, AIDS, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there. Ban him for life.”

That’s just the best-translated snippet of the Russian politician’s talk with FlashNord. A quick Google translate of the article, though, shows that Milonov didn’t stop there. He went on to say that Tim Cook’s coming-out article was aimed at increasing iPhone sales.

“Thus it improves sales,” Milonov said in what is, again, a rough Google translation. “Apple has become a popular brand. He is an artist who is first unwound as an artist, and then declares that he is homosexual. Now everyone knows that Apple does buggers, and each begins to change minds.”

“It’s a shrewd political move,” Milonov added.

Calling for a travel ban on Tim Cook because his gayness might give Russians Ebola is definitely a new one as is the claim that “Apple does buggers.” Those are far from the only inflammatory comments that have passed Milonov’s lips, though.

In August of last year, Milonov said that gay people were not “normal,” comparing homosexuality to living “with a dog, with a horse, with a sheep, whatever.” More recently, Milonov was quite upset with Britain’s decision to let gays marry at its Moscow embassy.

“They can marry monkeys and register perverts for all I care,” Milonov commented.

Tim Cook, meanwhile, remains the celebrated head of one of the most profitable companies in the entire world.

[Lead image via BusinessInsider.]