Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, taking the culture wars to a whole new level, demanded that corporations stay out of politics even while he and members of his party solicit millions of dollars in donations from them.
According to NBC News, McConnell spoke Tuesday about the pressure corporations are exerting on states like Georgia and Texas, where GOP majorities in state legislatures and Republican governors have been working to undermine voter participation in elections.
“So my warning, if you will, to corporate America is to stay out of politics,” McConnell told reporters at a news conference in Louisville. “It’s not what you’re designed for. And don’t be intimidated by the left into taking up causes that put you right in the middle of one of America’s greatest political debates.”
A loud supporter for the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that allowed corporations virtually limitless ability to spend money to help political candidates, McConnell has held fundraisers in which the key invitees were representatives from major corporations.
However, recently companies like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, Dell Computers and others have taken strong positions protesting efforts by the GOP to suppress voters ability to cast ballots. Major League Baseball pulled its All-Star Game and draft events from Atlanta in protest to Georgia’s new voter suppression law, which passed through the legislature and was signed into law without public comment in about 24 hours.
“You know, Republicans drink Coca-Cola, too,” McConnell said Tuesday. “And we fly. And we like baseball. This is a pretty competitive political environment in America as I just pointed out a 50-50 Senate. If I were running a major corporation, I’d stay out of politics.”
McConnell did not comment on why he chooses to undermine a free market where consumers can choose to support vendors and products they see fit, including to impact political change.