WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — In the aftermath of last week’s attack on the Capitol, some of America’s biggest companies have decided to take action against those lawmakers they say tried to subvert democracy.
They are the 147 Republicans in the House and Senate who challenged the certification of Joe Biden’s victory last Wednesday — even after a mob of Trump supporters had ransacked their Capitol Hill workplace.
Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) described those lawmakers “liars, grifters, and cowards” for siding with President Donald Trump’s deceitful claims of election fraud
“We had an election that was stolen from us,” Trump said from the Rose Garden last Wednesday. “It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it — especially the other side.”
Now corporate America — whose donations can often boost political careers — is withholding its money from the president’s congressional allies.
Craig Holman is the chief Capitol Hill lobbyist for Public Citizen — a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.
“You know, we have never seen corporate America actually stand up because they were so offended by that type of radicalism and that type of insurrection against the American government,” said Holman.
American Express said its political action committee will no longer support candidates who tried to “subvert the presidential election results and disrupt the peaceful transition of power.”
And American Express is not alone.
AT&T followed suit, as did Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dow Chemical, Marriott, Morgan Stanley, Airbnb, Comcast and Verizon. And the list is still growing.
Hallmark Cards asked for its money back from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Roger Marshall (R-KS). The company said the votes “do not reflect our company’s values.” Both men voted against the certification on Wednesday.
“We’re talking really about quite a lot of money,” said Holman. “But it isn’t just the money that’s going to have the impact. It’s this whole ramification of the denunciation of sedition against the U.S. government. That’s really going to have an impact.
Some very large banks including J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup said they will freeze all donations to Republicans and Democrats alike for a few months.
Facebook and Microsoft are pausing donations too. Goldman-Sachs says it’s assessing “how people acted during this period.” And T-Mobile says it is re-evaluating its contributions.