McConnell accuses companies of ‘economic blackmail’ after many condemn Georgia’s restrictive voting law

McConnell accuses companies of ‘economic blackmail’ after many condemn Georgia’s restrictive voting law

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“From electoral law to environmentalism to radical social agendas to the Second Amendment, parts of the private sector continue to be involved in behaving like an agreed parallel government,” said the Kentucky Republican in a statement on Monday. “Corporations will have serious consequences if they become a vehicle for extreme left-wing mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order.”

“Companies should not use economic blackmail to spread misinformation and push bad ideas that citizens reject at the polls,” he added.

McConnell accused Democrats of lying about Georgia’s law hastily passed by state Republicans and sanctioned last month by Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

He contested President Joe Biden’s and others’ claim that Georgia’s voting law is reminiscent of or worse than the Jim Crow era laws, arguing that “no one really thinks that this current dispute comes close to the horrific racist brutality of segregation “.

“Our private sector should stop receiving suggestions from the Industrial Complex of Indignation. Americans do not need or want large companies to amplify disinformation or react to all controversies manufactured with frantic signals from the left,” McConnell said in his statement, adding that “It is jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not only allowing themselves to be intimidated, but also joining in with bullying.”

McConnell also criticized Democratic electoral legislation in Congress, the “For the People Act”, as a “takeover” of all electoral laws in the 50 states and the Federal Electoral Commission that “is impossible to defend, so the left wants to deviate. “The measure, which does not have enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass, would nullify many of the restrictive provisions of the new Georgia law and the like.
Georgia law imposes voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, allows state officials to take over local polling stations, limits the use of ballot boxes and makes it a crime to give or offer food and drink to voters while waiting in line to vote.

Republican advocates of the law argue that it makes elections in Georgia safer and that it broadens access to voting – pointing to the requirement that each county’s law have at least one box for absentee votes and expansion of early voting in many counties.

The law, however, dramatically reduces the number of hanging boxes in some large counties, significantly shortens the total duration of second round campaigns and the early voting period for second round elections and shortens the length of the absent voting period.

The MLB move to reallocate the Game of the Stars, potentially costing Georgia $ 100 million in lost economic impact, was the first in response to the state’s electoral law. Atlanta Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on CNN Saturday predicted it would be “the first of many of our state’s boycotts to come”.

During a press conference on Saturday, Kemp vehemently defended Georgia’s electoral law and said he would not hesitate or be influenced if Georgia lost more events, costing the state more dollars for business and tourism.

He accused the MLB of putting the Democrats’ wishes “ahead of the economic well-being of Georgian workers who relied on the All-Star Game for their pay”.

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, as well as other Democrats, said he respects the MLB decision, but expects companies to protest the law not by boycotting the state, but “coming here and fighting head-on with voter suppression”.

After the law was passed, some of the country’s most prominent black business leaders called their peers the Fortune 500 for their silent response to new laws that restrict voting across the country and challenged them to more strongly condemn what they said they were deliberate attempts by Republicans to limit the number of black Americans voting in important states.

Last week, American Airlines and Dell Technologies spoke out against an electoral bill in Texas that would place new restrictions on the voting process, especially for those living in densely populated counties.

At an event in his home state on Monday, McConnell said he “found it completely disheartening to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting into politics.”

“My advice to America’s corporate CEOs is to stay out of politics,” he added.

McConnell’s statement came after he previously supported business involvement in politics, including support for the 2010 United States Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, which allowed large companies more power to spend freely in federal elections. In 2014, he spoke out against Democrats’ attempts to allow Congress to set limits on corporate campaign spending in federal elections, calling it a threat to basic rights of expression.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Eric Bradner, Maeve Reston, Dianne Gallagher and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

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