AMAC Exclusive – By Aaron Flanigan
Last week, 37-year-old billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced his bid for the presidency in 2024, becoming the third candidate to officially declare as a Republican. Ramaswamy first rose to prominence following the publication of his 2021 book Woke, Inc., a thorough takedown of woke capitalism and “social justice” policies in corporate America that earned him regular appearances on conservative radio and TV. While Ramaswamy faces a decidedly uphill battle to the Republican nomination against former President Donald Trump, who continues to be a heavy polling favorite, his entrance into the races marks the continued prevalence of opposition to woke corporatism as a major issue for conservatives.
This trend was further highlighted earlier this month when Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Republican House Leader Steve Scalise made the unprecedented move of refusing to meet with the U.S. Chamber of Congress – a stunning reversal after decades of close cooperation between the Chamber and congressional Republicans.
“The priorities of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have not aligned with the priorities of House Republicans or the interests of their own members, and they should not expect a meeting with Speaker McCarthy as long as that’s the case,” a spokesman for McCarthy said in a statement. Scalise’s office reiterated McCarthy’s sentiment. “Washington has radically shifted away from the pro-business philosophy of most local Chambers across America,” a Scalise spokeswoman said, and “unless the Chamber gets back to their traditional pro-business roots, they should not expect to have any engagement with Majority Leader Scalise’s office.”
Notably, McCarthy and Scalise’s snub comes after the Chamber endorsed dozens of Democrat candidates in recent election cycles who evinced decidedly anti-business policy goals – another reflection of the rise of woke ideology in corporate America more broadly. In the months leading up to the 2020 election, for instance, 97 percent of donations from employees of Google and Facebook went to Joe Biden, as well as 90 percent of donations from Capital One employees, 83 percent of donations from JPMorgan employees, 80 percent of donations from Amazon employees, and 79 percent of donations from Bank of America employees.
Another encouraging sign of conservatives’ growing disillusionment with this corporate wokeism was Senator Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) viral questioning of Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen late last year. When McMullen attempted to gain support from GOP officeholders to offset regulatory policies proposed by Democrats, Cotton responded by saying, “You know, this situation reminds me a little bit of the situation Big Tech companies have found themselves in recent years. They’ve come to Washington because they fear regulation from our Democratic friends, or action by the Biden administration and they expect Republicans, who are traditionally more supportive of free enterprise, to come to their defense.”
“I’ve cautioned them for years that if they silence conservatives and center-right voters… if they discriminate against them in their company, they probably shouldn’t come and ask Republican senators to carry the water for them whenever our Democratic friends want to regulate them or block their mergers,” Cotton continued.
Cotton’s remarks were made in reference to two former Kroger employees in Arkansas who were fired for refusing to wear rainbow-colored aprons in support of “pride month.” Kroger had also recently introduced a guide urging employees to stop using words like “sir” and “ma’am.”
“I’ll say this,” Cotton concluded in his remarks to McMullen. “I’m sorry that’s happening to you. Best of luck.”
Figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley have also staked out an identity within the GOP as crusaders against woke corporatism. DeSantis’s conflict with the Walt Disney Company over its relentless pushing of progressive gender and racial theories in children’s programming, as well as its silencing of conservative employees, has served as an effective roadmap for other red state governors to hold companies in their states accountable for censorship and blatant political acts.
Hawley too has sought to take on woke media giants like Disney. In May 2022, he introduced a bill that would “strip woke corporations like Disney of special copyright protections.”
Some in the private sector have also taken concrete steps to clamp down on woke capitalism. In a recently released report, 1792 Exchange—a corporate wokeism watchdog—assessed the policies of more than 1,000 companies to give every American a much-needed chance to evaluate corporations’ intrusions into the political arena. As AMAC Newsline has previously highlighted, the group’s report classifies each company as either “high risk,” “medium risk,” or “low risk.” Examples of “high risk” companies include well-known corporations like Bank of America, Etsy, JPMorgan Chase, PayPal, YouTube, and Amazon—giving conservatives a surefire way to know which corporate giants to avoid.
Despite significant progress, the war against corporate wokeism is far from over. Many corporations continue to use their power and influence to advance a far-left cultural agenda while silencing anyone who disagrees. The developments of recent months, however, suggest that the relationship between big business and militant progressivism is in peril. Should the conservative movement continue advancing in this direction, the far left’s grip on corporate America could soon be broken.
Aaron Flanigan is the pen name of a writer in Washington, D.C.
Best way to stop these companies is to hit them in the wallet. Les Schwab is the latest company to go woke. They did it through the back door. They had a 30-second commercial about how well Les Schwab takes care of you. The commercial featured a young cute little girl backseat driving her dad who looked Hispanic. They pulled that commercial and replaced it with one of dubious video quality looks like it was done by a Junior High video production group, and the child is some sort of a transgendered kid you can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl. That’s the whole point. I would boycott Les Schwab
Vote w/your wallets…they can’t cheat past the wallets. If they cancel our voices, we will also keep our wallets out of their coffers!!!
I suspect that many corporations perssure the US Chamber of Commerce to back them in their “wokism” because they may be heavily invested in foreign countries . I suspect that these “woke” corporations are pushing the Chamber to talk up for them while they fire Americans and hire Chinese , Vietnamese , Philopinos, Indonesians , Thais, etc. , at extremely low labor costs . I also suspect that there “lwoke” corps are trying to please China . In China , “woke” corporations have no independence . They do what their fascist master wants . Obviously , “woke” corporations are trying to please someone . Not Americans though . And this is why , as soon as the DEMOCRATs took the Presidency , they started bringing up the TPP . The American people , through their States’ Legislatures enacted laws that permit for the formation of encorporation. The purpose of encorporation is to protect the owners from personal liability and to provide and create employment and protucts . We the suckers , permit encorporations because we expect corporations to provide jobs , products , services , for us . We have granted them a great PRIVILEDGE of incorporating . Like that old saying , ‘no good deed goes unpunished . So, what we need to do now , is remove the protection that we granted . Lets revoke the corporate charters of “Woke” corporations . Lets tell the “woke” corps that we’ve had enough . They have apparebtly abbandoned us , so , lets abbandon them . It was OUR priviledge to grant , and it is OUR previlidge to revoke . Lets stop letting them make fools of us . And lets FORCE the US Chamber of Commerce to defend America for a change . Let’s revoke their charter too .
Take the national legislature and the presidency and enact laws specifically against woke recrimination and discrimination. The recrimination is important so that some argument can be raised that an action was not discriminatory.
The whole ‘Woke Philosophy’ has poisoned the democratic party terribly. It has divided the country for no good reason, it has censored perfectly good and decent films, it has put a damper on the production of entertainment, it has cast a dark shadow on communication, it has destroyed the First Amendment of the Constitution, it has libeled and slandered the conservative party, it has promoted Marxism in its elementary forms, it has hurt the economy, it has policed thinking, it has polluted and destroyed the minds of our children, and it has swallowed up reasoning with absurd disinformation and propaganda. Many of these corporations were better off remaining neutral instead of following the way of a dangerous fad. The tide of Woke Philosophy has swallowed up whatever reasoning was left in the country. It has permeated everyone and everything. It will take years, perhaps even decades for it to disseminate. From Medicine to Education to every form of discipline it is all tainted with this democratic/Marxist poison. The Democratic Party was out to promote its Party any way it could. They were NOT trying to reform us. They were out for control and political dominance. They were out to take over this country. Making President Washington, President Jefferson, President Theodore Roosevelt, and anybody who farted a little to the right anathema and politically incorrect; was just the beginning of their agenda. However, ‘what goes around comes around’; and they will start to devour each other like cannibals in the near future. May God Protect This Beautiful Country!
Not sure the grip will be broken soon but we can’t give up trying.
The problem with wokism is that what is a generally accepted thought today, may not be accepted at a future date. It is a continuing shift in the concept of “right thought.” When I was 7 or 8, I dressed up as an Indian on Halloween, a feather in my headband, paint on my face and a plastic tomahawk in my hand. That was in the 50s. Now a parent would be highly criticized for their child’s cultural appropriation. And is that a weapon in his hand? So I suppose I am damned eternally by the politically correct.
When the Yankees stopped playing Kate Smith’s recording of God Bless America at games, I stopped going to the games. (Good grief, she wore blackface in the 1930s!!!) When rich football players displayed their disdain for America by kneeling for the National Anthem, I stopped watching football on TV. I remember when Disney produced fun movies for children. Now I keep waiting for Mickey Mouse to announce he is a she and her name is Michelle. (Poor Minnie!)
Remember an entertainment option called comedy? No comedian can tell a joke now without offending someone. Late night TV used to be funny. Now it is either juvenile or political left, but not particularly humorous. They are still telling Trump jokes! Johnny Carson would not recognize anything in the 11:30PM time slot. I get to sleep a lot earlier now.
I am thankful for the conservative Republicans in the House now. They have a voice and are using it. I hope they can move the needle.
Everything is being politicized by Brandon and the gang.
The only thing we can do is not support these companies. Not buy their product, not their services. The same with the MSM just turn them off. Stop reading their newspapers. Find your info elsewhere. Because they are not going to change and if you ask why they are acting this way they yell at you or say what are you going to do about it. They are going to keep on lying and making you look stupid for they know better what we need. That way they keep control over you. And they have all the power.
Why hasn’t Brandon been impeached. Why hasn’t Buttigieg not been fired or Majorcas.
Because money and manipulation keeps this regime going.
The COVID came from the lab and the White House comes with there is no consensus reached about that. Excuse me? Even COVID has been politicized and kept that way. No humanity involved.
We are a Christian nation in a war for our principles…every time I buy USA manufactured products…every time I DON’T buy China…I feel I am making a step in the right direction…my family and friends feel the same. God bless America
All shows the rapture/tribulation just around the corner.
Love the article. GO VIVEK!!!!
Excellent article.
The woke culture took hold because the managers in these corporations graduated from a communist school system. They are leftist lunatics that are on a crusade to kill America. We must get rid of them and reconstruct public and private schools to teach, not indoctrinate.
We need to keep the momentum going.
It is long overdue that “woke” companies get called out in public, especially in Congress. I just pray that it is not too late to save our country from autocratic socialism.
Let’s get back to the principles that made America great in the first place.
“woke” is marxist soc/com used by the stasi used most recently from the late ’40s until 11/09/1989 when they used the “wall” to literally “round up” dissidents. it literally “imploded” on itself.