Walmart's Striking Statement Regarding Recent Political Controversy

Major corporations often don't like to take strong political stances, since it can frequently come back to bite them. Just ask Chick-fil-A, one of the few companies that makes no secret of its often unpopular social and political stances and has been made to suffer the consequences. Many companies, however, prefer to stick to the middle of the road, since they don't want to alienate half their customer base. A YouGov poll from 2018 about whether people preferred that major brands take a political stand found that, surprise, we're pretty much split down the middle on this issue, along with just about everything else.

Walmart is one major company that usually likes to go the safe route — OpenSecrets shows that the corporation has contributed to candidates on both sides of the aisle. Every once in a while, though, there comes a time when staying silent and doing nothing is no longer an option. This is why the company took a bold, if somewhat delayed, stance last summer and banned the Confederate flag even when it was depicted as part of the Mississippi state flag. Coincidentally (or not), that state soon replaced its outdated flag (even if they ultimately chose not to replace it with one bearing a giant mosquito). Well, in light of last week's shocking storming of the Capitol, Walmart is once again entering the political fray, with Fox Business reporting its throwing its support behind our lawfully-elected POTUS-to-be.

In a statement released by the company (via Fox), Walmart explained that they were constantly reviewing their political contribution policies and adjusting them as necessary after each election cycle and would continue to do so over the months to come, but they then went on to issue a much stronger declaration: "In light of last week's attack on the U.S. Capitol, Walmart's political action committee is indefinitely suspending contributions to those members of Congress who voted against the lawful certification of state electoral college votes."

Walmart is not alone in taking this stance. A number of other corporations are rushing to cut ties, at least temporarily, with anyone who may have been involved in events leading to the sadly fractured state in which we now find our nation. Fellow big-box retailer Best Buy has adopted a similar position in withholding funds from the lawmakers in question, as has out-of-the-box retailer Amazon, while Target has put all of its political contributions on hold. 

Telecom companies AT&T, Verizon and Comcast; tech giant Intel; and major manufacturers Dow Chemical, General Electric, and Coca-Cola; as well as numerous other industry leaders, have also taken steps to pull its support, with many issuing condemnations of the type of divisiveness that can lead to violence. After all, what is good for General Motors (or Walmart) may be good for our nation, but what is bad for our nation does not bode well for business, either.