PLANO,??? ?????? ?????? Texas —?In response to criticism of its donations to legislators who voted against the certification of Joe Biden’s election as president, Toyota issued the following statement on July 8:
“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.
“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.”
According to CNN, the move was in respoonse to a video ad released by the Lincoln Project, a Republican-led anti-Trump PAC. In the video, a narrator says, “America’s free-market, democratic system has been good for companies like Toyota for a long time. So why would Toyota support politicians who tried to overthrow very system that’s been so profitable for them?”
Soon after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, dozens of corporations, including American Express, BlueCross BlueShield, Amazon, Walmart and Marriott, suspended donations to the 147 Republicans who objected to the Electoral College’s votes.