4 More Big Companies Halt Funding To Prominent Republicans

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Four major companies revealed in recent days that they would be stopping their financial support of members of Congress who opposed the certification of some of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral votes during recent proceedings where Congress met to certify the numbers. The companies who’ve confirmed that they’re halting these donations include the hotel company Marriott International, the health insurance network Blue Cross Blue Shield, the bank holding company Commerce Bancshares, and Citibank. Additionally, Bank of America, Ford Motor Company, and AT&T all “said they will take recent events into consideration before making future donations,” as summarized by Forbes, adding that CVS Health Corp., Exxon Mobil, FexEx, and Target “said they are reviewing their political giving.”

The information emerged via the newsletter Popular Information, which is the work of journalist Judd Legum. The amounts of previous donations that the companies in question have given vary somewhat, from the $2,000 that Marriott offered in support of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to the $2,500 that Commerce Bancshares gave in support of Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Ks.). While these donations don’t exactly seem poised to have carried any single campaign over the finish line, they’re markers of support on which certain Republican members of Congress can no longer rely.

Among other corporate statements, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association recently said as follows:

‘In light of this week’s violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol, and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November’s election by challenging Electoral College results, BCBSA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.’

Additionally, Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.) has prepared a resolution calling for the expulsion of members of Congress who “tried to overturn the election and incited a white supremacist coup attempt that has left people dead,” as she described the move. Members of Congress who voted against certifying some of Biden’s electoral votes include Hawley, Marshall, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and others.

Last Wednesday, when Congress met to certify the electoral college outcome — meaning Biden’s victory — a mob of Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building while lawmakers were inside. One news photographer who was on the scene said that he heard a few rioters talking about wanting to hang Vice President Mike Pence, and separately, rioters put up an apparently functional gallows outside of the Capitol. Although it’s unclear what exact details that the president knew about the riot at the time of his remarks, the threat to the safety (and possibly lives) of members of Congress was obvious — and Trump justified what happened, writing on his since-removed Twitter account that “these are the things and events that happen” because of the supposed theft of his supposed rightful election victory, which, of course, didn’t actually take place.