Published 18:47 IST, January 13th 2021
Walmart, Disney halt political donations to lawmakers who opposed Biden's win
Walmart and Disney have become the latest firms to announce halt of any donations to lawmakers who had objected the certification of Electoral College results.
- World News
- 2 min read
Walmart and Disney have become the latest companies that have announced to halt any donations to lawmakers who had objected the certification of Electoral College results last week declaring President-elect Joe Biden the winner. The rebukes of two giants marked the latest move of corporate America against the politicians that attempted to hinder the integrity of the democratic process. Several other firms including Amazon, Marriott International, Morgan Stanley, Dow, Airbnb, and AT&T and even Google, Facebook, JPMorgan, and Microsoft are either suspending all donations or pausing them for both Republicans and Democrats.
A Walmart spokesperson told the New York Times that the firm will indefinitely suspend political donations to Congressional lawmakers who had “voted against the lawful certification of state electoral college votes”. Further, the retail giant Amazon had also said a day ago that it will suspend the similar donations. The announcements have come after the US Capitol siege when outgoing US President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed US Capitol building.
Meanwhile, the entertainment company Disney said in a statement that in the “immediate aftermath of that appalling siege, members of Congress had an opportunity to unite - an opportunity that some sadly refused to embrace. In light of these events, we have decided we will not make political contributions in 2021 to lawmakers who voted to reject the certification of the Electoral College votes”. These firms followed the suit of other several firms to halt political donations. This came after a mob fueled by reports of voter fraud for several weeks, storming the US Capitol just during Congress convened to certify the results of the US presidential election. The riot that took place on January 7 killed at least five people, including a police officer and dozens have been arrested. Ultimately, Congress voted on certifying Biden’s victory but eight Republicans and 139 representatives voted against it.
Investigation is unprecedented in scope
Meanwhile, US Federal investigators are following thousands of leads to not only prevent any potential eruption of violence but also to prosecute the rioters involved in last week’s Capitol siege that took the nation by surprise. According to the CNN report, FBI has opened at least 160 case files in just a matter of six days since Trump’s supporters breached the building. However, officials have now revealed that the evidence gathered till not is “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Updated 18:47 IST, January 13th 2021