CNBC Host Andrew Ross Sorkin did not fall for corporations' newfound disdain for Trump & GOP after his insurrection plot on the Capitol.
Sorkin tells the truth about corporations & seditionStephanie Ruhl reported that many companies stopped their political donations to the Republicans who participated in the seditious insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She said some companies are suspending all contributions to all political parties, Democrats and Republicans alike.
Andrew Ross Sorkin had an important response.
"It's a historic moment," Sorkin said. "But at the same time, it's a defensive moment. I don't think we should give these companies any more credit than suggesting that they are recognizing what has happened here. Some of them have funded sedition. That's what's happened. they've funded sedition and the good news, if there is good news, is that they are acknowledging it and they are putting some of these funding efforts on pause.
Sorkin then castigated companies that stopped contributions to both parties. It is unfair because it penalizes those who did nothing wrong.
"I think there's a big distinction between those who are singling out the leaders that supported this effort and sedition and those that didn't, said Sorkin. "The idea of pausing across the board to some degree is a cop-out because it effectively is injuring those that might be on the right side of things."
We should note that corporations have been complicit in supporting sedition before.
The consternation had been growing in the months between Franklin D. Roosevelt's election and his inauguration, but his elimination of the gold standard in April 1933 infuriated some of the country's wealthiest men.
Titans of banking and business worried that if U.S. currency wasn't backed by gold, inflation could skyrocket and make their millions worthless. Why they could end up as poor as most everyone else was during the Great Depression.
So, according to the sworn congressional testimony of a retired general, they decided to overthrow the government and install a dictator who was more business-friendly. After all, they reasoned, that had been working well in Italy.
How close this fascist cabal got, and who exactly was in on it, are still subjects of historical debate. But as the dust settles after the pro-Trump attack on the U.S. Capitol, and as it becomes clearer how close lawmakers came to catastrophe, the similarities to the Business Plot are hard to ignore.
"The nation has never been at a potential brink as it was then up until, I think, now," said Sally Denton, author of the book "The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right."
Please listen to the entire video clip. Sorkin makes a few more points.
