GOP’S tilt to populism quickening
Conflicts rise between politicians, businesses
The conflict between businesses and Republican leaders like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over vaccine mandates highlights the GOP’S shift from a pro-business, antiregulatory party to one that answers to a populist base.
Similar disputes are playing out nationally as anti-vaccine politics have run into strategies by companies to operate their businesses safely and as they see fit. Abbott’s executive order issued Monday barring any entity, including an employer, from requiring a coronavirus vaccination puts him squarely in opposition to the plans of many Texas businesses. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis on Tuesday proposed a law to shield workers from dismissal for not getting COVID-19 vaccines.
Abbott’s order puts companies in a bind between it and President Joe Biden’s directive for companies with 100 or more employees to require workers be vaccinated. Abbott was once considered the champion of corporate interests while Desantis is leading in some GOP polls for the 2024 presidential election.
Business groups and the companies they represent say vaccines and other mitigation measures are crucial to beating the pandemic and spurring the economic recovery, a view Biden encourages. But Republican politicians responding to voters advocating populist positions championed by former President Donald Trump have made minimizing the virus an act of personal freedom. That approach might cost some GOP candidates the corporate support they once could rely on. Some states’ chambers of commerce, including in Ohio and Oklahoma,
are considering using their political action committees to support probusiness Democrats and oppose what they consider to be “anti-business Republicans.”
“If they’re anti-business, they should be worried that we’re going to put a target on their back,” said Steve Stivers, president and chief executive of the Ohio Chamber and a former Republican member of Congress.
The moves to impose prohibitions on businesses come as many large companies, including Walmart Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., the Walt Disney Co. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have started to require the vaccine. Some, like Mcdonald’s Corp., have mandated inoculations for office workers but not for front-line employees. United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby has said that more than 98% of the airline’s U.s.-based employees have been vaccinated.
Texas-based American Airlines Group
Inc., the biggest U.S. airline, and No. 4 Southwest Airlines Co. said on Tuesday they would defy Abbott’s order and instead follow Biden’s requirements.
Republican officials such as Abbott and Desantis have defended prohibitions on businesses on grounds that no one should be forced to get the vaccine or wear a mask. Desantis on Tuesday also said that he would contest federal vaccine mandates for large private-sector businesses.
He has backed issuing fines to companies that require patrons to show proof of vaccination, saying at a news conference in Pensacola last month that his job is “not to protect corporate freedom,” a position the GOP once embraced.
Desantis isn’t concerned about losing business support because government must protect individual rights and allow people to make their own medical decisions, Desantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said.
“Being pro-business does not mean enabling corporate policies that violate individual rights,” Pushaw said.
Still, executives like United’s Kirby and business groups such as the Greater Houston Partnership, the city’s chamber of commerce, see employer-driven mandates as the way to defeat the pandemic that has killed more than 700,000 Americans.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday assailed the moves by Abbott and Desantis, saying they’re “putting politics ahead of public health” and “every leader should be focused on supporting efforts to save lives and end the pandemic.”
Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said some Texans are worried about losing their jobs if they refuse a vaccine mandate, and Biden’s requirement leaves employers with a choice of violating federal regulations or losing workers. Abbott’s order “will help protect Texans from having to make that choice,” Eze said in a statement.
Republican politicians have embraced opposition to vaccine and mask mandates as outrage against them grew on the right, reflecting the party’s changing voter base.
A Gallup poll released Sept. 3 found that 56% of Americans favor requiring proof of vaccination to go to an office or work site. But that support plunges among Republicans to only 24%, compared to 88% of Democrats and 43% of independents. Republicans say it should be a matter of personal choice.
Polls also show that Republicans are not as concerned about business interests as they once were.
Gallup found a sharp drop in the percentage of Republicans who are satisfied with the size and influence of major corporations, falling to a record-low 31% in January from 57% a year earlier. Satisfaction with big business among Democrats remained essentially unchanged at 25%.