U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, speaks at the CPAC convention on Feb. 26.
On Tuesday (April 20), Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, called on television for the Republican Party to reduce its reliance on giant corporations. He also urged breaking up the giant corporations that have too much power over American politics and seek to “run our democracy.
Hawley made the remarks on “Fox News Primetime. He was asked for his views on the attempts by some giant corporations to influence hot-button political issues, such as their recent boycott of the Georgia Voter Integrity Act.
Fox News host Ben Domenech asked, “What can we do to get these companies to quit engaging in these culture war issues? These are issues that are causing such a divide in American life.”
Holly replied, “I think there’s no question that these giant corporations have too much power in American society, too much power in American politics, and they want to run our democracy …… That’s the bottom line issue. They want to run our government.”
Hawley added, “And the answer is, for many of them, we have to break them.”
Earlier this year in April, Hawley introduced legislation called the Trust-Busting For the 21st Century Act. The bill would ban all mergers and acquisitions by companies with a market capitalization of more than $100 billion, authorize the Federal Trade Commission (Federal Trade Commission, FTC) to prohibit “digitally dominant companies” from acquiring potential competitors, and force companies that lose antitrust lawsuits to lose their profits from monopolistic practices.
In an April 12 statement, Hawley said, “A small group of awakened giant companies control the products Americans can buy, the information Americans can receive, and the voices Americans can participate in. These monopoly powers control our speech, our economy, our country. They can control only because Washington aids and abets their claims to endless power.”
He added, “The giant corporations want to run this country, and Washington is happy to let them do so. It’s time to break them up and restore competition.”
Hawley’s remarks about “awakening corporations” echoed those of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. McConnell said in early April that it was foolish for business leaders to fight Georgia’s election integrity law. Critics of the bill claim the law places unfair barriers to voting; its supporters argue that it makes elections safer.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in his home state of Kentucky, McConnell said, “It’s pretty foolish for (giant corporations) to get involved in a very controversial issue.”
McConnell’s comments come after corporate America, the corporate world, stepped in and took a stand on that election reform effort. Two hundred companies, including PayPal, Dow Chemical, Microsoft and Uber, issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to the bill, which they believe would make voting more difficult.
Executives from Estee Lauder, Hewlett-Packard (HP), LinkedIn and Levi’s, among others, said in the statement, “There are hundreds of bills in dozens of states across the country that could make voting more difficult.”
The business leaders wrote, “We call on elected leaders in every state legislature and Congress to work together across borders to ensure that every eligible American has the freedom to easily vote and fully participate in our democracy.”
McConnell said, “Don’t take sides in these big battles. It will invite serious consequences if corporations become a tool for far-left thugs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order.”
In an interview with Fox News, Hawley said it is “absolutely critical” for the Republican Party to end its financial dependence on corporate America, especially transnational globalist corporations.
He said, “For years, our constituents have been telling us that they don’t like the fact that jobs that are ours are being moved overseas. They don’t like the way these companies act, groveling to China (the Chinese Communist Party) on the one hand, while turning around and admonishing Americans as the worst offenders and educating them about social justice at home.”
Hawley said, “Our policies will not be based on them. It’s time for us to listen to our constituents.” “We have to get tough on these giant corporations themselves. For those monopolies, I say again, they should be broken up.”
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