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Judd Legum Profile picture
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Jan 26 • 9 tweets • 9 min read
1. It's worth digging into @pepsi's response to our report that it sent 15K to the Texas GOP after the party passed an abortion ban

It's a case study on how corporations seek to evade accountability for political activity

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/update-facin…
@pepsi 2. The first tactic is just to ignore the issue.

@Pepsi didn't respond to my inquiry about the donation last week.

That backfired when the story went viral and #boycottpepsi became the top trending topic in the United States

popular.info/p/update-facin…
3. When @pepsi responded on Tuesday, it cast the 15K donation as part of its support for the party convention

The point @pepsi is trying to make here is that they don't support these anti-abortion policies. It's INDIFFERENT.

Not sure that's better

popular.info/p/update-facin…
@pepsi 4. Next, @pepsi made an issue of the timing. It claimed it sent the check to the Texas GOP in the summer of 2020.

That turned out to be not really true but even if it was, would that be better?

This was the Texas Republican Party in 2020

popular.info/p/update-facin…
5. But the story that the check was sent in 2020 and cashed in August 2021 wasn't really true

@pepsi admitted that it reissued the check in 2021

But @pepsi wouldn't say when

If it was before the abortion ban was enacted, seems like @pepsi would say so

popular.info/p/update-facin…
6. But for the timing of this donation to have any importance, @pepsi would have to make a decision that, now that it knows about the abortion ban, it will stop donating to the Texas GOP

@pepsi is also declining to address its future plans

popular.info/p/update-facin…
@pepsi 7. Corporations, including @pepsi, expect little to no scrutiny about their political spending

That's why they believe they can tweet about "empowering women" while donating to groups that are launching a full-scale attack on women's rights

popular.info/p/update-facin…
8. Popular.info is an independent newsletter that focuses on accountability journalism.

We have a comprehensive process to track corporate political spending.

Sign up (free!) to stay informed.

Change is possible.

popular.info/subscribe
9. There are several other major corporations that sent checks to Texas Republicans after they passed a draconian abortion ban

@ATT
@Walmart
@Ford
@Zillow
@Allstate
@USAA
@UPS
@Exelon
@UnitedHealthGrp

None of these companies has responded

popular.info/p/update-facin…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 27
1. The decision of a Tennessee county school board to ban Maus from the classroom is not an isolated incident

It is part of a much broader effort to censor history and literature being packaged under euphemisms like "parents rights"

Follow along if interested Image
2. The archetypal "parents rights" candidate was Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Youngkin's closing TV ad featured a woman who tried to get Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved banned from her son's AP English class

She called it "explicit material" Image
3. In Florida, @GovRonDeSantis is pushing legislation to require teachers to describe America's founding as "based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence"

That, of course, is a lie. Black people, women, and others were denied these rights
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 27
A bill just filed in the Oklahoma Senate would ban from schools any book that includes "lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues or recreational sexualization."

It is sponsored by Senator @shanejett

webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22… Image
@shanejett Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. There is a wave of book banning across the nation.

More here: popular.info/p/the-war-on-l…
If you are interested in these issues an invaluable resource is @PENamerica.

@JeffreyASachs is doing tremendous work tracking the assault of free speech across the country

pen.org/steep-rise-gag…
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 27
1. There was a very strange meeting at the White House yesterday which supposedly was a meeting of CEOs who support Biden's BBB plan.

But one CEO at the meeting, @GM's @mtbarra, is actively leading a multi-million dollar campaign to defeat BBB

WTF?

popular.info/p/a-strange-me…
@GM @mtbarra 2. @GM's @mtbarra is the chair of @BizRoundtable a group of CEOs that has engaged in a scorched earth campaign to kill BBB, including advertising on Facebook and television

The ads claim that BBB would devastate the American economy

popular.info/p/a-strange-me… ImageImage
3. Almost all of the other attendees at Biden's meeting are members of the @BizRoundtable and are participating in this effort.

And yet, Biden ticked through the benefits of BBB and said he was "grateful for the support of the CEOs that are here."

popular.info/p/a-strange-me…
Read 8 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 26
The Mcminn County School board in Tennessee just voted to ban a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust

The vote was 10-0

tnholler.com/2022/01/mcminn… Image
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. There is a wave of book banning across the nation.

More here: popular.info/p/the-war-on-l…
If you are interested in tracking these issues, I’ve been doing a lot of reporting on book banning and other attacks on free expression in my newsletter

Sign up here —> popular.info/subscribe
Read 10 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 25
UPDATE: Facing calls for a boycott on social media, @pepsi is defending its 15K donation to the Texas GOP

Pepsi tells popular.info that it sent the check to the Texas GOP in the summer of 2020 but it wasn't cashed until August 2021

popular.info/p/after-texas-…
@pepsi I contacted PepsiCo prior to publication but did not receive a response.

Since Pepsi is making an issue of the timing the check was sent (prior to the passage of the abortion ban), I've asked if they plan on making any changes to their political giving moving forward
@pepsi The other issue is that, if @pepsi objected to the fact that the Texas GOP was pushing through a draconian abortion ban, it could have canceled the check.

It chose not to.

As a result, the Texas GOP was able to cash the check on 8/5/21. Here is how it showed up on the filing.
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 25
1. People think that Republicans are introducing bills banning Critical Race Theory in schools.

This is misleading. Most of the bills don't even mention CRT.

It is a sweeping attack on free speech inside and outside schools.

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/2022-the-yea…
2. A new report from @PENamerica revealed that, in the first few weeks of 2022 there were 71 BILLS introduced in states restricting the speech of teachers

Many bills contain basic factual errors, contradictory language, or leave important terms undefined

popular.info/p/2022-the-yea…
3. In Florida, @RonDeSantisFL is pushing legislation that would prohibit any kind of instruction or training in schools OR PRIVATE BUSINESSES that makes white people feel "feel discomfort, guilt, [or] anguish."

popular.info/p/2022-the-yea…
Read 8 tweets

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