Survey Reveals How Much Voters Dislike Companies Funding Seditious GOP Lawmakers

New polling published Tuesday revealed that most U.S. voters oppose corporate donations to Republican lawmakers who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, with favorability ratings plummeting by an average of 40% when participants were informed of a company's financial support for backers of former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie."

"Corporations quietly resumed funding these members of Congress who voted to throw out legally cast votes in favor of party loyalty."

Data for Progress surveyed nearly 1,300 U.S. voters, finding that 57%--including 80% of Democrats, 56% of Independents, and 36% of Republicans--are against corporations funding members of Congress who voted against certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Survey participants were first asked about their opinions of nine major corporations. Then they were queried again after being informed of the firms' campaign contributions to would-be election overturners. Each of the nine companies donated at least $50,000 directly to the reelection campaigns or leadership PACs of the 147 GOP seditionists, who have collectively raised more than $36 million in corporate donations since the January 6 attack, according to the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Data for Progress explained:

Among likely voters, without any prior context, United Parcel Service (UPS) receives a net favorability rating of +67 points, Cigna receives a net favorability rating of +22 points, Ford receives a net favorability rating of +57 points, AT&T receives a net favorability rating of +37 points, Home Depot receives a net favorability rating of +70 points, Toyota receives a net favorability rating of +67 points, American Airlines receives a net favorability rating of +39 points, Chevron receives a net favorability rating of +31 points, and Anheuser-Busch... receives a net favorability rating of +36 points.

However, once informed of these companies' support for would-be election overturners, voter favorability fell by between 28 (Cigna) and 54 points (Toyota), with an average drop of 40 points. Among voters who identified as Democrats, the average favorability drop was 78 points. For Independents it was 33 points, while Republicans registered an eight-point decline, on average.

"Many corporations, including seven of the nine that were tested in this study, initially made public statements promising to stop donating to election overturners after the insurrection. However, corporations quietly resumed funding these members of Congress who voted to throw out legally cast votes in favor of party loyalty," Data for Progress said. "Given this survey's findings, CEOs should certainly note: they face an undeniable threat to their bottom lines once consumers are made aware of their funding of fascists."

Common Dreams has reported how corporations have broken their promises to not support the 147 Republicans by donating millions of dollars to their campaigns. Last week, CREW revealed that six far-right House Republicans who allegedly requested preemptive pardons from Trump for their roles in the January 6 insurrection have received more than $100,000 in contributions from corporate and business PACs.