Big Lie – Democracy Watch

Japanese automaker Toyota donated to more Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of the Electoral College than any other company.

According to Axios based on data from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Toyota donated $55,000 so far this year to 37 of the objectors. That’s about a quarter of the Republicans in Congress who voted to overturn the election results.

In addition to Toyota, CREW reports that corporate America has donated to 109 of the 147 members who objected to the election results. The good-government group deemed these members the “Sedition Caucus” for voting to advance the Big Lie and nullify election results even after Trump supporters staged a violent insurrection meant to stop the certification.

In a statement, Toyota dug in its heels and arguably dug itself even further in the hole: “We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification.”

In other words, Toyota does not care one bit about the health of our democracy so long as they can profit from favorable taxes and regulations. This is not surprising, given corporate America’s anti-democratic track record – particularly from Koch Industries, which was among the donors to the Sedition Caucus.

However, the news should give Toyota owners second thoughts about supporting a company that funnels their money to opponents of democracy.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Republicans in the House of Representatives followed through with their expected removal of Representative Liz Cheney from party leadership over her refusal to embrace the Big Lie.

The AP reports:

House Republicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as the chamber’s No. 3 GOP leader on Wednesday, punishing her after she repeatedly rebuked former President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Meeting behind closed doors for less than 20 minutes, GOP lawmakers used a voice vote to remove the Wyoming congresswoman from her leadership post, the latest evidence that challenging Trump can be career-threatening.

We do not have a roll call of who voted to remove her because it was a voice vote, although Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise both publicly supported her removal. If Republicans were to regain control of the House after next year’s elections, McCarthy would likely become Speaker of the House and Scalise Majority Leader.

The vote was expected, but the result is nonetheless startling. One of America’s two major political parties just instituted a litmus test requiring its members to either advance Donald Trump’s lie that the election was stolen or else remain silent. If they speak the truth, they will be punished.

In a floor speech before the vote, Cheney warned her party about the danger to American democracy.

“Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar,” she said. “I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”