McConnell warns biz off political speech
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday it’s “quite stupid” for corporations to speak out politically, intensifying his warnings for big business to stand down as Congress delves into voting rights, President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package and other defining issues.
Speaking in Kentucky, the GOP leader said he still wants companies to give freely to political campaigns. But as lawmakers wrestle with big issues, he warned CEOs against the kinds of public statements made by Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball in opposition to Georgia’s new restrictive voting laws.
“It’s quite stupid to jump in the middle of a highly controversial issue,” he told reporters.
“Republicans drink Coca-Cola too, and we fly, and we like baseball,” he said. “It’s irritating one hell of a lot of Republican fans.”
The colorful language from the typically reserved Republican leader shows the quandary ahead for the party in the post-Trump era. Many Trump-styled lawmakers are bucking big business and leaning more heavily into the populist, working-class themes championed by the former president – even as they rely on deeppocketed business donors to fund their political campaigns.
By wading into the debate, McConnell is situating himself in the emerging culture wars as progressive groups pressure business not to sit silently on voting rights, gun violence and other big issues before Congress.
Meanwhile, as major companies headquartered in Georgia criticize the state’s controversial new voting law that prompted the protests, some GOP lawmakers are calling for boycotts of the brands.
A letter Saturday addressed to Kevin Perry, president of the Georgia Beverage Association, from members of the Georgia House Republican Caucus requested the removal of all Coca-Cola
“It’s quite stupid to jump in the middle of a highly controversial issue. Republicans drink Coca-Cola too, and we fly, and we like baseball. It’s irritating one hell of a lot of Republican fans.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell R-Ky.
products from an office suite. Eight GOP legislators signed the letter.
Coca-Cola was one of the first Georgia-based companies to publicly condemn the legislation. The owners of three Atlanta professional sports teams – the Falcons, the Hawks and the Dream – also released statements critical of the new law, The Washington Post reported.
After Major League Baseball said it would move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta to protest the new law, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C. announced plans to begin drafting legislation to remove MLB’s federal antitrust exception.
Former President Donald Trump and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel both publicly slammed the MLB for its move, and called on supporters to do the same.
“Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections,” Trump said in a statement.