The “Big Lie,” that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats is being soundly refuted in televised Congressional hearings. But that hasn’t stopped major American corporations from funding the reelection campaigns of proponents of the lie.
Between January 6, 2021 and April 1, 2021, over the course of less than three months, Toyota gave over $60,000 to the reelection campaigns of Republicans in the House of Representatives who are promoting the “big lie” that the 2020 Presidential election was somehow stolen by Biden and the Democrats. Toyota’s beneficiaries included Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) who promised to “lead the charge” to overturn the election. After the donations were exposed, Toyota temporarily suspended donations to the insurrectionists, only to start a new round of gifts six months later. Beneficiaries of Toyotas largess this time included Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Congressman David Kustoff (R-TN), Congressmen Trent Kelly (R-MS) and Garret Graves (R-LA, who all voted to reject the election results.
According to the website Accountable.US, in April 2022, companies listed in the Fortune 500 gave almost $1.5 million to Congress Representatives that refused to certify the 2020 Presidential election results. The largest donor was AT&T, which gave $95,000 to the Congressional election objectors. Major corporations have also donated large sums to Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-C), Scott Perry (R-PA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) who have refused to cooperate with the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021. Combined, as of April 2022, corporations and trade associations have donated over $16 million to Congressional insurrectionists since January 6, 2021.
Some companies that claimed they would stop donating to Congressional insurrectionists continued to finance them either directly or through campaign PACs. These companies include alphabetically Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Citigroup, Comcast & NBC Universal, Eli Lilly, Exelon, General Electric, Home Depot, Intel, Marsh & McLennan, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Verizon, Walgreens, and Walmart. Other companies like Amazon are channeling money to the insurrectionists through the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Also in this group are Dell, Genetech, Google, MassMutual, NextEra, Oracle, AT&T and Sanofi.
Other companies, including Aflac, American Airlines, Anthem, Exxon Mobil, FedEx, Ford, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Lowe’s, Pfizer, UPS, VISA, have continued to donate to the Congressional insurrections, although it is not clear if they ever promised to stop.
There are some corporations that promised to end financial support to the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election that have kept their promises and deserve recognition. They include Airbnb, Allstate, American Express, BASF, CBS Corporation, CISCO, Commerce Bancshares, Dow Inc., eBay, Eversource Energy, General Mills, Hallmark Cards, Holland & Hart, Kraft Heinz, Lyft, Marriott, Mastercard, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Newmont, Nike, NRG Energy, Public Service Enterprise Group, Qurate Retail, S&P Global, Sony Music Group, State Street, Texas Instruments, Universal Music Group, Vertex, Walt Disney, Warner Music Group, and Zillow.
The overwhelming majority of Americans support much stronger gun safety regulations, but the National Rifle Association has been able to stymie reform by buying the support of influential Senators. In 2019 alone it gave their campaigns over $3 million. The biggest beneficiaries of NRA dollar include Mitt Romney (R-UT), Richard Burr (R-NC), Roy Blunt (R-MO). Thom Tillis (R-NC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA). The NRA largely channels money to elected officials donated by the Gun manufacturers and retailerd, including Beretta, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Browning, Remington, Cebela’s, and USAMidway.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a proponent of the “big lie” and an opponent of reasonable climate action and gun control is the biggest recipient of oil and gas money, over $800,000 in 2018 alone. To return the favor, Cruz lobbied for oil and gas companies to receive federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Other big recipients of oil and gas money are Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), and Will Hurd (R-TX). According to a report from Greenpeace, oil and gas corporations, including Chevron and Exxon, donated over $5 million to the seven Republican Senators, Ted Cruz (R-TX, $3,770,950); Cynthia Lummis (R-WY, $603,176); Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS, $352,829); Josh Hawley (R-MO, $262,463); Roger Marshall (R-KA, $194,083); and Rick Scott (R-FL): $174,152); and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL, $110,529), who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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Source: dailykos.com
