The Lincoln Project, an organization led by Republicans and former Republicans who believe their party lost its bearings during the Trump era, have criticized Toyota Motor North America for supporting Republican members of the U.S House of Representatives, who voted against certifying the election of President Joe Biden, after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol Building Jan. 6, 2020.
“Too often, big corporations think they can act with impunity in politics. Donate to whoever advances their agenda. And they assume nothing will ever happen,” according to the Lincoln Project, which produced a series of memorable anti-Trump ads during the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election for failing to address COVID-19.
Toyota, like other companies with high public profiles, did stop campaign contributions to members of the “sedition caucus” after the Jan. 6 riot, which led to five deaths and injuries to dozens of police officers.
“If you were with us last summer, you probably remember when we all came together to pressure Toyota to stop its campaign contributions to Republicans who voted to block certification of President Biden’s victory,” the Lincoln Project noted in a statement.
Toyota hit for reversing course
However, the Lincoln Project noted this week, “Toyota lied to us all, broke its pledge to uphold democracy, and is now funding the sedition caucus again” by resuming its contributions to a Republican Congressman, who voted against certification of Biden’s victory. Digital ads attacking Toyota began running on Internet sites this week and on CNBC.
Toyota noted the company has a long-standing policy of making contributions to both political parties and makes a practice of supporting Congressmen representing districts in which it has operations.
“Toyota is committed to supporting and promoting actions that further our democracy. Our company has long-standing relationships with members of Congress across the political spectrum, especially those representing our U.S. operations,” the company said in a statement.
The company added, “Our bipartisan PAC equally supports Democrats and Republicans running for Congress. In fact, in 2021, the vast majority of the contributions went to Democrats and Republicans who supported the certification of the 2020 election.
“We understand that the PAC decision to support select members of Congress who contested the results troubled some stakeholders. We are actively listening to our stakeholders, and, at this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election,” the company added.
However, the Lincoln Project claimed Toyota, with its donations, is supporting representatives who have actively worked against democracy.
“They’ve even donated to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) who helped plan January 6th,” the Lincoln project said. In all, 147 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against certifying Biden’s elections.
The automaker’s PAC also gave $1,000 to the campaigns of Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Indiana), David Kustoff (R-Tennessee), Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) and Trent Kelly (R-Mississippi) last month, according to a Federal Election Commission filing, the online publication The Hill Reported. Toyota also has donated to Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and Alex Mooney (R-West Virginia).
Next it will be illegal to contribute to any politician from a state that as carried by Trump. In 2024 Trump will have to win by a margin greater than people who died in the past 5 years.