Top CEOs largely silent on Trump election denial, for now
Only a few of Americas CEOs have made public statements about President Donald Trumps refusal to accept his election loss, but in private, many are alarmed and talking about what collective action would be necessary if they see an imminent threat to democracy.
On November 6, more than two dozen CEOs of major US corporations took part in a video conference to discuss what to do if Trump refuses to leave office or takes other steps to stay in power beyond the scheduled January 20 inauguration of former Vice President Joe Biden. On Saturday Biden was declared the election winner by The Associated Press and other news organisations.
During the conference, which lasted more than an hour, the CEOs agreed Trump had the right to pursue legal challenges alleging voter fraud.
But if Trump tries to undo the legal process or disrupts a peaceful transition to Biden, the CEOs discussed making public statements and pressuring GOP legislators in their states who may try to redirect Electoral College votes from Biden to Trump, said Yale Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who convened the meeting.
Theyre all fine with him taking an appeal to the court, to a judicial process. They didnt want to deny him that. But that doesnt stop the transition, said Sonnenfeld. They said if that makes people feel better, it doesnt hurt anything to let that grind through. On Saturday, the day after the video meeting, the Business Roundtable, a group that represents the most powerful companies in America, including Walmart, Apple, Starbucks and General Electric, put out a statement congratulating Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. It largely reflected the conversation from Fridays video meeting, saying the group respects Trumps right to seek recounts and call for investigations where evidence exists.
There is no indication that any of these would change the outcome, the groups statement said.
The executives who participated in the video conference are from Fortune 500 finance, retail, media and manufacturing companies, Sonnenfeld said. But he wouldnt identify them because they attended the meeting with the condition that their names be kept confidential. Sonnenfeld frequently speaks with CEOs and sets up meetings for them to discuss pressing issues.
Richard Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University who spoke at the video meeting, confirmed Sonnenfelds account, as did an executive who attended but didnt want to be identified because he didnt want to violate the meetings ground rules.
The CEOs agreed that they had seen no evidence of widespread election fraud as Trump has contended. Sonnenfeld invited Yale University historian Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny,” to address the group. After hearing Snyder discuss the history of democracies dying after elections and the possibility of GOP legislators changing the Electoral College outcome, many expressed alarm about the presidents conduct, Sonnenfeld said.
There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.
The issues Trumps campaign and its allies have pointed to are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postal marks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. With Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground states, none of those issues would affect the outcome of the election.
Trumps campaign has also launched legal challenges complaining that poll watchers were unable to scrutinize the voting process. Many of those challenges have been tossed out by judges.
The CEOs decided to wait for the November 20 certification of votes in Georgia before meeting to decide their next moves. Action could include threats to stop donations to political action committees or even corporate relocations, Sonnenfeld said.
He spoke with six or seven CEOs on Wednesday who said that if there were seditious riots at Trump rallies or more mass firings like Trumps ouster of Defence Secretary Mark Esper and other Pentagon officials, they want to reconvene to talk about acting faster as individuals, Sonnenfeld said.
They thought it could have a very devastating effect upon on markets, on public trust in the process, and they would act to make sure that the Republican elected officials do their jobs and and then be patriots and respect the process, Sonnenfeld said.
The CEOs werent worried about reprisals against their businesses but emphasised acting together. They referred to a Benjamin Franklin quote at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately, according to Sonnenfeld.
But individual CEOs have been mostly silent on Trumps conduct. Juleanna Glover, CEO of media strategy firm RidgelyWalsh, said no CEO speaking out at this point could stop Trumps legal challenges.
Theyre trying to be moral and effective leaders,” Glover said. “Its a calculation of whether saying anything now can be an effective tool to making a situation better. The time may come for CEOs to speak out, but most are assuming that Trumps legal challenges and threats are just theatre and the change in power will take place uneventfully, Glover said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)