The list of major U.S. companies that plan to scale back funding for the Republican National Convention or avoid it altogether keeps growing as the July event in Cleveland draws closer.
Many of the corporations, including Wells Fargo & Co. and Ford Motor Co., sponsored the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa, Florida but do not plan to lend their names to this year’s event, which will be helmed by a divisive, unpredictable presumptive nominee.
Emily Lauer, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland host committee, told Bloomberg that a lull in corporate commitments came at the same time that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) dropped out, leaving Trump alone in the GOP field.
Yet “the sky is not falling,” she insisted to Bloomberg.
Though UPS, Motorola, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Hewlett Packard Inc. and Walgreens—all of which sponsored the 2012 convention—have signaled they’ll withhold support this year, a number of prominent corporations have announced commitments. The American Petroleum Institute will participate, while AT&T, Cisco Systems Inc., Twitter and Facebook have pledged cost-free tech support, Bloomberg reported.
While most of the companies listed were reluctant to give the news site a reason for staying away from Cleveland, the political context is hard to dodge for some.
A company spokesman for Ford told Bloomberg that they decided not to sponsor either party’s convention more than a year ago and to instead focus on “state delegations,” making no mention of Trump. Yet the presumptive nominee frequently attacks Ford for outsourcing jobs and announcing a plan to build a new plant in Mexico.
While the host committee says it is on track for funding, other big-name donors plan to skip out on the Cleveland event, too. David Koch, one of the biggest backers in Tampa, announced that he and his brother Charles will not fund this year’s convention, and a number of major GOP figureheads, including both former presidents Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), have said they won’t be attending.
Below is a running list of companies that have announced either they will scale back or withhold funding for the 2016 convention:
MetLife Inc.
Walgreens
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
UPS
Motorola
Wells Fargo & Co.
Ford Motor Co.
Coca-Cola
Microsoft
Why can’t Trump just fund it himself? He’s a multi-billionaire, right? Right?!
trump the unificator. what a guy.
“Our plans for a cheaper, more efficient, leaner-and-meaner convention are proceeding without a hitch” – Reince Pubis
Well, let’s face it, a lot of us would grab at an excuse to miss Cleveland in July.
Why even have convention? No one wants to party like it’s 1999. Maybe a call-in show on a Saturday evening? Half delegate votes, half fundraiser?