Republicans are getting stripped of money
With much of corporate America vowing to withhold donations to Republican insurrectionists, party leaders have a choice to make. The Trump cult or the money? The money or the Trump cult?
One hoped that love of country and its democratic institutions would have been reason enough to strongly condemn fellow Republicans who tried to overturn the results of a legally certified election. Only a handful of Republicans rose to the occasion, with a few more signing on following the obscene Trump-fueled rampage on the Capitol.
Despite pleading with President Donald Trump to stop the riot, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy still would not lift a finger to defend the democracy. He joined the more than 120 lawmakers in refusing to count Electoral College votes.
Until … until America’s blue chip companies started announcing their intention to stop sending money to the Republican miscreants. That got McCarthy’s attention.
McCarthy’s position as party leader depends on his ability to dole money to Republican candidates.
Less money, less power. Threatened, McCarthy tried to weasel out of his disgrace by letting it be known that he actually told Trump that “the election is over.” What courage!
Over at the Senate, Rick Scott of Florida faces a cloudy future as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a fundraising enterprise. He also tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, perhaps the ugliest face of Trumpian violence, now has a taste of what’s in store.
Kansas City-based Hallmark has made the extraordinary demand that Hawley return its employees’ donations.
It’s a poorly kept secret that Republicans are no longer the kings of fundraising. Democrats are. In the recent U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia, Democrat Raphael Warnock raised over $32 million more than the losing incumbent, Kelly Loeffler, even though she is a creature of Wall Street. Jon Ossoff beat Republican David Perdue in both votes and the money race, having raised almost $50 million more.
Corporate PAC donations have traditionally been a greater source of money for Republicans than Democrats, so the post-riot condemnations bode ill for the GOP.