SENATE MINORITY LEADER Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued a warning to corporations protesting Georgia’s newly enacted voting law, saying they will “invite serious consequences” if they engage in boycotts or other retaliatory measures.
In a statement issued Monday, McConnell lashed out at major corporations for what he sees as the latest example of them caving to left-wing pressure by opposing the election law or taking more drastic measures that would have broader economic ramifications, such as refusing to do business in the state.
McConnell’s direct warning exposes more flaws in the long-standing relationship between congressional Republicans and big business. It also comes months after a number of large corporations announced that they would pause or stop donating to Republican elected officials who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in early January.
“The private sector continues to drag on behaving like a wakeful parallel government, ranging from election laws to the environment, through radical social agendas to the Second Amendment,” said McConnell. “Corporations are going to have serious implications if they become a vehicle for far-left people to take our country out of the Constitution. Business can not use economic blackmail to disseminate disinformation and to promote misconceptions which citizens disapprove of in voting cases. “
Georgia’s law imposes new measures, including limits on voting drop-boxes and requirements to identify absentees, that could limit electoral access during the elections of 2022. Democrats have equated the law with “Jim Crow 2.0,” which refers to the laws institutionalizing the separation and discrimination of races.
Republicans, like McConnell, have opposed Georgia’s legislation – and other such laws as those in consideration across the country – as not restricting access and arguing that it will enhance electoral integrity in the next cycle. He added that in the way they operate businesses in other states, companies do not apply similar standards, arguing that New York has some similar voting conditions to Georgia.
Since the bill was signed by Georgia’s Gov. Brain Kemp late last month, some Democrats and voting activists have been pressured to boycott companies based in Georgia who have not made a pronouncement early enough and have not even spoken out.
And Major League Baseball last week, in response to the voting law which has been the greatest corporate opposition since its inception, announced it would play its All-Star Game in Atlanta.
“Baseball’s Major League basically supports all the Americans’ right to vote and is opposed to voting box restrictions,” said the Baseball MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. “Fair voting access continues to have the relentless support of our game.”
But Democrats have reacted mixedly to boycotts borne out of the fight for voting rights.
Stacey Abrams, an advocate for voting rights who ran for the Governor of Georgia in 2018, praised the MLB and the voting law players but expressed her deception about their relocation. Abrams, who could face re-election to Kemp in 2022, argued that the boycott would ultimately harm Georgia’s citizens and electorates by allowing a major state to benefit economically.
“Though I don’t want Georgia families to be harmed by the lost events and jobs, I respect boycotts,” Abrams said. “The people of Georgia who have been targeted by electoral suppression will be hurt as opportunities come into the country.
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