Washington DC:
America is increasingly divided on political lines as the 2024 Presidential election approaches. Though open and upfront divergence in political ideology is not uncommon among citizens, especially in democracies and near elections, another big divide has emerged in the run-up to the November polls – that of Corporate America.
Tech behemoths, banking giants, large corporations and even regional and small firms stand on either side of this political divide.
On November 5, citizens across the US will vote for their next president between Democrat candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump. The divide is straightforward – “liberal and left-leaning” Kamala Harris vs “protectionist and right-leaning” Donald Trump.
TECH BEHEMOTHS DIVIDED
Big tech has joined the cause, aligning themselves to their chosen candidate. Employees at Microsoft, Google (Alphabet), Amazon, and Sun Microsystems have donated millions of dollars to Kamala Harris’s campaign, according the data made public by political watchdog OpenSecrets. The contribution to Ms Harris’s campaign is significantly more than what was given to the Trump campaign.
Tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are, however, rallying strongly for Donald Trump. The contributions they have made directly to the Trump campaign are not available at the moment.
According to the a CNN report, Meta chief executive Zuckerberg made public statements supporting right-wing “censorship” narratives and praised Donald Trump for being a “badass”. He later claimed he wanted to appear “neutral” and nonpartisan.
The report also said that Mr Zuckerberg sent a letter to the powerful House Judiciary Committee, stating that the Biden administration had “pressured” Meta to “censor” content.
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
The letter was immediately weaponised by Trump, who claimed once again that the 2020 election was stolen.
Elon Musk, however, has been far more open in his support for Trump. According to ta report in the Wall Street Journal, Musk had said in July that he is personally donating $45 million every month to an organisation called America PAC, which in turn looks after the Trump campaign.
Another big venture capitalist who is openly backing Donald Trump is Peter Theil.
Indian-American billionaire and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Vinod Khosla, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman are among those strongly backing Kamala Harris.
Election funding data reveals that Sundar Pichai-led Google (Alphabet), and its subsidiaries have donated $2.16 million to Kamala Harris. In comparison, the same companies donated much smaller amounts to the Trump campaign.
While Satya Nadella-led Microsoft donated $1.1 million to Kamala Harris’s campaign, Jeff Bezos-led Amazon donated $1 million. In comparison, the same groups made much lower contributions to the Trump campaign – $88,000 from Microsoft and $116,000 from Amazon and their employees.
More than a hundred venture capitalists and big tech companies in Silicon Valley, which has largely been left-leaning in the past, have backed Kamala Harris.
BANKING AND OIL GIANTS
Banking corporations and crude oil firms appear to be leaning towards Trump, thanks to his promise of less tax and less regulation in these sectors. Even the US stock market reflected that sentiment when there were assassination attempts against the Republican leader.
According to a Bloomberg report, CEOs of Oil giants have been getting signals from Donald Trump to go big on drilling due to Trump’s love for oil. Trump has openly said that he does not believe in Climate Change and has called it a “lie”. He has also said that he believes in coal and oil for energy because of the advantage United States has in the sector. The ex-President has also faced criticism from climate activists like Greta Thunberg for his view on the issue.
“We have more liquid gold than anybody,” Trump had told Businessweek in July.
According to the Bloomberg report, banking chiefs see an opportunity for more mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector, bringing a windfall in fees. The capital markets hope to send fresh dollars into pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals and electric transmissions capabilities – and maybe even a new commitment to nuclear energy infrastructure.
Bankers also believe that strict rules which have been implemented under the Biden administration will be rolled back should Donald Trump. Some believe that new banking rules suggested by the Biden Administration will not even see the light of day.
Big banking giants and Oil firms are hence backing Donald Trump.
TRUMP vs HARRIS – A LOOK AT THE TOP CONTRIBUTORS
According to political funding analysts OpenSecrets, the following table shows corporations and individuals who have made the largest monetary contributions to the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns.
KAMALA HARRIS CAMPAIGN – TOP CONTRIBUTIONS
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DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN – TOP CONTRIBUTIONS
