- S&P 500 companies gave $23 million to the 147 GOP lawmakers who contested Electoral College results.
- After GOP efforts to overturn Biden’s victory led to violence, some companies paused their support.
- Here’s a list of how much each corporate PAC had given and whether they’ve paused contributions.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
On January 6, Congress convened a joint session to formally certify President Joseph Biden’s Electoral College victory, but it was quickly interrupted by a group of Republican objectors who argued, based on little more than conspiracy theories, that Congress shouldn’t proceed because there had been widespread election fraud.
In total, 147 Republicans — roughly 55% of the GOP lawmakers in Congress — objected to certifying the results of at least one state’s Electoral College vote.
But that long-shot effort to overturn democratic election results was itself interrupted by pro-Trump rioters who — citing the same election fraud conspiracies — stormed the US Capitol building in an attempt to violently keep Trump in power, forcing members of Congress to evacuate, leaving five dead and dozens injured.
In the wake of the failed insurrection, corporate America found itself facing backlash for its extensive financial support of Trump and the lawmakers whose repeated amplification of election fraud conspiracies helped fuel the violence.
Political Action Committees backed by S&P 500 companies gave more than $23 million to the 147 GOP election objectors during the most recent campaign cycles (2020 for House members; 2016 and 2018 for senators), according to an Insider analysis of Federal Election Commission data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Critics, from activists to shareholders to other executives, have argued the contributions helped those lawmakers get elected and stay in power, giving them the platform they used to undermine voters’ faith in the election (which Trump’s former top cybersecurity official called “the most secure in American history“).
But following reporting from Popular Information and other media outlets, many companies began rethinking their political contributions.
Companies’ commitments have varied widely, however.
Few have permanently blacklisted election objectors, and as Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out, the largest contributions typically happen right before, not after elections, leaving the door open for companies to resume their support once the public’s attention has turned elsewhere. Others have paused all PAC contributions, potentially allowing them to benefit from the positive PR without having to explicitly condemn — or risk alienating — more than half of the Republicans in Congress.
Still, dozens have issued public statements or internal memos announcing they will at least pause contributionswhile they reevaluate how they use their money to influence politics.
Here’s a list of the S&P 500 companies — some of the largest and most influential businesses in the US — how much they gave to the 147 election objectors in the latest election cycles through their corporate PACs, and whether they’ve pulled their support.
Do you work for one of these companies and have information about how they’re responding to recent events? We’d love to hear how they’re navigating the current political landscape. Contact this reporter using a non-work device via encrypted messaging app Signal ( +1 503-319-3213 ), email (tsonnemaker@insider.com), or Twitter (@TylerSonnemaker ). We can keep sources anonymous. PR pitches by email only, please.
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