Defense Giants Should Stop Funding Election Deniers
Everyone needs to hold the line here.
A new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington finds that in 2021, military contractors were among the top corporate donors to legislators who refused to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Topping the list was industry giant Boeing, who gave $346,500 to GOP campaign committees or election objectors’ campaigns – and even donated to state attorneys general who worked to overturn the election results. Other major contractors who donated to election denialists include General Dynamics, which gave $233,500; Lockheed Martin, $205,000; L3Harris, $173,000; Northrop Grumman, $151,000; and Raytheon, $150,500.
As Roll Call reported this week, the presence of Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop on the list is notable since those companies paused political donations after the Jan. 6 insurrection. They quietly restarted them, however, and now fund politicians who take flagrantly antidemocratic stances. Last month, The Hill noted that General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Raytheon had even donated to Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-TX, who published an op-ed that fraudulently claimed “the election was stolen from President Trump” and called for overturning the results. Denialist recipients of defense industry dollars aren’t just House Republicans, though. They also include rising GOP figures like Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who holds a powerful position on the Senate Armed Services Committee.