Comcast, Other Corporations Suspend Political Donations

Comcast Corp. on Monday joined several other major American corporations in taking a tough stance against the 147 Republican politicians who voted against accepting the presidential vote totals — cutting off campaign money to them.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the giant cable firm, one of Philadelphia’s largest employers, condemned “the appalling violence we witnessed at the U.S. Capitol.”

“Our focus,” it said in a statement, “needs to be on working together for the good of the entire nation. Consistent with that view, we will suspend all of our political contributions to those elected officials who voted against certification of the Electoral College votes, which will give us the opportunity to review our political giving policies and practices.”

The funding suspension by Comcast, as well as the same move by Marriott and many other firms, was the most aggressive step in a continuum of campaign-finance action by some of the nation’s biggest companies. Other large firms, such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and, locally, the Vanguard Group, halted all political contributions to both Republicans and Democrats.

Finance firm such as Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and JP Morgan said they were doing the same. BlackRock told employees in a memo that its decision was spurred by “the horrific events in the nation’s capital.”

But Comcast and Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain, and others zeroed in on only the GOP vote objectors. The hotel firm said its suspension of giving to 139 Republican U.S. representatives and eight senators was driven by “the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election.”