Marriott International, Morgan Stanley, Dow, Airbnb, JPMorgan, Citigroup, American Express, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft are among the companies who have said they will either cut-off or pause political donations to Republican members of Congress.
Marriott International, Morgan Stanley, Dow, Airbnb, AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, JPMorgan, Citigroup, American Express, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft are among the companies who have said they will either cut-off or pause political donations to Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
On Wednesday, Congress had met to certify the result of the US presidential election. However, fueled by months of conspiracy theories and baseless allegations of election fraud pushed by President Donald Trump and his backers, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US capitol leading to rioting that shook the entire world.
Though Congress ultimately voted to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win, eight Republican senators and 139 representatives voted against this, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville. It should be noted that several other GOP lawmakers who had said they would join dropped out following the riots.
After these developments, companies including Marriott, Morgan Stanley, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Dow, AT&T, Boston Scientific, and Commerce Bank said they would stop political donations to those Republicans who backed the falsehood spread by President Trump and supported him in this misadventure. According to the WSJ report, Goldman Sachs is also likely to follow the suit. It would pause all political funding to both Republicans and Democrats for at least six months, said JP Morgan. Citigroup will also pause the funding for the remainder of the quarter. Though Airbnb didn’t specify a limitation on the pause, the company’s statement said: “Airbnb PAC will update its framework and withhold support from those who voted against the certification of the presidential election results.”
Taking a similar route, Facebook has paused all political funding for three months, while Microsoft has taken an indefinite pause until “it assesses the implications of last week’s events.”
Amazon spokesperson Jodi Seth, threatening to throttle the fundraising resources for Republicans who voted against Biden’s certification, said: “Given the unacceptable attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process, the Amazon PAC [political action committee] has suspended contributions to any member of Congress who voted to override the results of the U.S. presidential election.”
Based in Kansas City, Mo., greeting-card giant Hallmark said n a statement its political action committee requested Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, both of whom objected to Biden’s certification, return all campaign contributions.
It said the actions of the two senators “do not reflect our company’s values.” It also condemned the storming of the Capitol by protesters intent on disrupting the certification. “The peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind.
Other firms, including Ford Motor Co. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, said they would temporarily suspend donations to both parties.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which represents regional and local health insurers covering around one in three Americans, said: “In light of this week’s violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol, and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November’s election by challenging Electoral College results, BCSBA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.”
The world’s largest hotel company Mariott International took similar stance, with company spokesperson Connie Kim confirming the decision to cease donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who sided with Donald Trump in rejecting Biden’s victory on Wednesday.
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