Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton blasted corporate CEOs over their rhetoric concerning the new Georgia election law and called on conservative employees at those companies to speak out to their employers.
Cotton responded to the reactions from the CEOs of Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola during a Monday appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” telling them to “stick to running an airline or selling sugary beverages to Americans.” (RELATED: Rep. Ilhan Omar Justifies Supporting MLB Boycott By Falsely Implying Georgia Election Law Will ‘Restrict People’s Ability To Vote’)
Guest host Morgan Brennan began by stating to Cotton that there’s been a shift in corporate America in their approach to “social and socioeconomic issues,” and that corporations are “going from neutral to being very outspoken.” She then asked Cotton why CEOs of some of these corporations that “are taking a stand” believe it’s “good business” to do so.
“I think they’re afraid of left-wing attacks, and they’re afraid of being attacked on cable news, and in the newspapers that they read,” Cotton responded. “They’re worried about … the very activist, young, social justice warriors they have working in their corporate headquarters. But I can tell you, these CEOs do not speak for their entire workforce.”
Cotton went on to say that he’s encountered “hundreds” of Delta employees during his time in public life that have thanked him for the work he does and have expressed their support for former President Donald Trump. He then said he’d encourage all of the “conservative and Republican” employees who work for Delta or Coca-Cola to be more active by sending emails to their CEOs and encouraging them to “stick to running an airline or selling sugary beverages to Americans.”
Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin jumped in and stated that Cotton had received money from some of the same companies that have been speaking out against the Georgia law. He then asked how Cotton would “square that.”
“It’s very simple, Andrew, I don’t endorse my donors’ agenda. They endorse my agenda,” Cotton answered. “They know that when they contribute to me, whether $5 or $5,000, that I’m going to do what’s right for Arkansas and what’s right for America.”
“And what’s right for America is to have safe, convenient, accessible elections, and that’s exactly what this Georgia law has done. What’s not right is to have these moral corporate hypocrites weighing in on public policies when they don’t have any specific knowledge about them, they don’t have any particular expertise, and they haven’t taken the time to inform themselves about the facts,” he concluded.
The CEOs of Delta and Coca-Cola both spoke out on Wednesday against the Georgia law aimed at ensuring election integrity. This came as the companies faced threats of boycotts from activists for not taking a stronger stance against the law. Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp slammed the criticism from the CEOs, saying, “If they want to have a debate about the merits and the facts of the bill, then we should do that.” He also called on them to look at the other states where they do business “and compare what the real facts are to Georgia.”