Republicans take aim at ‘woke’ Coca-Cola and MLB amid Georgia boycotts
Republicans are waging war against “woke” organizations — including Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball — for boycotting Georgia over its new voting law.
Leading the charge is Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who took a swing at Major League Baseball on Saturday for moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, calling it a “cancel culture” move that reflected the league✅ bowing to a left-wing nඣarrative.
“We shouldn’t♊ apologize for making it easier to vote and hard to cheat,” the Republican goverꦬnor said at a press conference in Georgia’s Capitol.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also penned a scathing letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, saying his decision “reeks of hypocrisy.”
“I write to ask you whether you intend to maintain your membership at Augusta National
Golf Club,” Rubio challenged Manfred in the letter Monday. “As you are well aware, the exclusive members-only club is located in the State of Georgia.”
Last week, Manfred decided to yank this year’s “Midsummer Classic” from Atlanta in protest of the new voting provisions in Georgia, which President Biden has characterized as modern-day Jim Crow.
Biden was a𒊎warded “” for his statements by the Washington Post, which endorsed his can💞didacy, for spreading misinformation about the state law’s impact on voting hours.
In a blistering statement, US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) slammed the president’s characterization as overblown, while accusing deep-pocketed corporations of “behaving like a woke parallel government.”
“Nobody really thinks this current dispute comes anywhere near the horrific racist brutality of segregation,” he wrote. “But there’s an old cynical saying that ‘history is just the set of lies agreed upon.’ And a host of powerful people and institutions apparently think they stand to benefit from parroting this big lie.”
McConnell continued, “It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves. From election law to environmentalism to radical social agendas to the Second Amendment, parts of the private sector keep dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government.”
Other companies, including Coca-Cola and Delta Air, have also condemned the law in the face of boycott threats from activists.
Over the weekend, a group of GOP lawmakers in Georgia announced they were removing Coca-Cola products from their offices “given Coke’s choice to cave to the pressure of an out of control cancel culture.”
“Your company has made the conscious decision to perpetuate a national dialogue which seeks to intentionally mislead the citizens of Georgia and deepen a divide in our great State,” the state House members wrote in a Saturday letter to Coca-Cola announcing their decision, .
Former President Donald Trump on Friday also called for a boycott of corporations that ౠhave taken 🍎a stance against the Georgia voting reform bill.
“Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter ID, whicܫh is desperately needed, to have anything toꦉ do with our elections,” Trump said in a statement.
“Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Ele𝐆ctions. Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all𝕴!”
The Georgia l꧙aw requires a photo ID to get an absentee ballot and shortens the window of time to vꦇote absentee.
It also bans political organizations from handing out food or water to voters waiting in line and allows the State Election Board to remove and replace county election officials while curtailing the power of the secretary of 🍃state as Georgia’s chief elections officer.
Conservatives believe the new law will increase legislative control over elections in the state — improving election integrity.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was grilled on Monday on inaccurate statements Biden has recently made in urging the MLB to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta, including claiming that the new law “ends voting hours early.”
In fact, the new law expanded early voting by adding a second mandatory Sꦬaturday, gives counties the option of opening two Sundays and allows them to extend early voting hours🔯 beyond standard business hours.
But Psaki didn’t address Biden’s flubs, instead reiterating that “the president doesn’t believe it should be made harder to vote, he believes it should be easier.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also weighed in on the MLB scandal — by refusing to throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener on Monday and boycotting MLB-hosted events.
“I was looking forward to it — until Major League Baseball adopted what turned out to be a false narra💙tive about the election law reforms in Georgia, and, based on that false narrative, moved the MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta,” the Republican governor said in a letter.
“It is shameful that America’s pastime is not only being influenced by par🐼tisan political politics, but also perpetuating false political narratives,” he continued.
A found that more Americans support the new voting law than oppose it — 42 percent to 36 percent. That’s despite 38 percent of adults saying they support the MLB’s decision, compared to 28 percent who don’t agree with the move.
