Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is walking back his warning to corporations to “stay out of politics.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, McConnell said, “I didn’t say that very artfully yesterday. They’re certainly entitled to be involved in politics. They are.”
“My principal complaint is they didn’t read the darn bill. The president of the United States called the bill a Jim Crow exercise to suppress voter turnout — presumably based on race because that’s what the Jim Crow allegation is,” he continued.
He sarcastically added, “That bastion of conservatism The Washington Post gave the president four Pinocchios for lying about it.”
Watch the video below:
McConnell walks back telling businesses to "stay out of politics" yesterday: "I didn't say that very artfully yesterday. They are certainly entitled to be in politics. They are." pic.twitter.com/cG7BNqkgdZ
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) April 7, 2021
On Tuesday, the Kentucky lawmaker claimed it is “stupid” that corporate executives are speaking out to criticize a controversial new voting law in Georgia.
“So my warning, if you will, to corporate America is to stay out of politics,” he said, adding, “It’s not what you’re designed for. And don’t be intimidated by the left into taking up causes that put you right in the middle of one of America’s greatest political debates.”
“You know, Republicans drink Coca-Cola, too. And we fly. And we like baseball. This is a pretty competitive political environment in America, as I just pointed out a 50-50 Senate. If I were running a major corporation, I’d stay out of politics.”
He clarified that he was “not talking about political contributions.”
“Most of them contribute to both sides. They have political action committees, that’s fine. It’s legal, it’s appropriate, I support that. I’m talking about taking a position on a highly incendiary issue like this and punishing a community or a state, because you don’t like a particular law that passed. I just think it’s stupid,” he said.
Biden has described the bill as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century” and claimed that it would limit voting hours to “five o’clock when working people are just getting off work.”
However, The Washington Post’s fact-checker gave the president four “Pinocchios” for “falsely” alleging that the bill limits voting hours.
