Companies sitting out Trump coronation
UPS, JPMORGAN
A growing number of prominent U. S. corporations are opting to drop or scale back their sponsorship of the Republican national convention next month in Cleveland, as the nomination of Donald Trump promises a level of controversy rarely seen in such gatherings.
Among those to signal in recent days that they won’t sponsor the convention this year are Wells Fargo & Co., United Parcel Service Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Ford Motor Co., and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
All of those companies sponsored the previous Republican conclave, in Tampa, Fla., in 2012.
None would comment publicly on the reason for the decision or say whether Trump played a role. Many said they wouldn’t support the Democratic convention either. The Cleveland host committee, which raised much of the money it needed more than a year ago, says that fundraising remains on track.
Big corporations usually shy away from partisan politics, but they often support conventions to promote their brands and schmooze with state and federal officials. Trump’s nomination threatens both of those priorities, according to Republican operatives who advise companies on political activities. A Trump spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some top elected officials are skipping the convention this year, and there are threats of large- scale protests. At the same time, a group of liberal activists is applying pressure, arguing that corporate sponsors are implicitly endorsing Trump’s incendiary statements about Muslims, Mexican immigrants and others.
“It’s a question of balancing the desire to be present at this convention versus brand association with one figure who is so polarizing,” said Bruce Haynes, a Republican media consultant in Alexandria, Va. “That’s why the decision is so difficult, when otherwise it’s so easy.”
Plenty of big companies and industry groups remain committed to the convention. The American Petroleum Institute, the chief trade group for the oil and gas industry and a top donor to the 2012 convention, told Bloomberg it “will be participating” this year, without elaborating on the form that would take. AT&Tw Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Twitter Inc., and Facebook Inc. have previously disclosed plans to provide technical services to the convention at no cost.
Bank of America Corp. wouldn’t comment directly on its plans, but spokesman Larry DiRita said it typically supports a convention if it has significant links to the community, and that Cleveland and Philadelphia, the site of the 2016 Democratic convention, “are both cities where we have a healthy community presence.”
With just over a month to go before the doors open at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, some companies that have contributed to past events remain coy about their plans for this year. These include some of the largest companies targeted by the activist campaign, including Apple Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Amazon. com Inc., Xerox Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. All of these companies declined to comment on their plans or didn’t return calls and emails.
“If any of their employees walked inside their jobs and said the things Donald Trump is saying on the campaign trail, in front of countless cameras and journalists, they would be fired,” said Rashad Robinson of ColorOfChange PAC, one of the groups leading the activist campaign. “Corporations play a powerful role in sending a message to everyday people about what’s acceptable in the public space. This is not a businessas- usual convention.” Even before Trump’s last rivals for the presidential nomination dropped out in early May, some companies disclosed plans to scale back or drop their sponsorship, including Coca- Cola Co. and Microsoft Corp.
Ford’s role in the convention would have been especially fraught. Trump has repeatedly faulted the company for planning to build a plant in Mexico and vowed to stop such moves if he becomes president. As recently as March, Politico reported that Ford wouldn’t say whether it would be a sponsor. This week, Christin Baker, a Ford spokeswoman, told Bloomberg that the company decided more than a year ago not to sponsor either party’s convention and that “our focus is on state delegations” where the company has factories. She declined to give a reason for the change.
Trump has repeatedly riled minority groups, including the Hispanic community, a growing demographic that’s important to many businesses. So, even if they decided not to sponsor the convention for other reasons, companies may have dodged unwelcome attention.