Business Leaders Abandon Trump, Call for 25th Amendment While Social Media Finally Takes Action

Despite enabling him for years, some of Trump’s business community allies have called for the president to be removed from office. Facebook also suspended the president’s accounts.

As a mob of pro-Trump domestic terrorists stormed the US Capitol Building, several former business and industry allies of the administration called for President Trump to take responsibility.  

Trump has consistently used his power as president to support the interests of major conservative industries over the needs of individual citizens and small businesses. Until now, he’s enjoyed the support, or at least passive acceptance, of industries like major manufacturers and technology companies. But in the wake of yesterday’s disastrous coup, many of his former allies are turning against the president.  

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a press release yesterday that President Trump instigated the violence unfolding in and around the US Capitol. In it, Timmons calls for the president’s removal from office.  

“Trump refused to accept defeat in a free and fair election,” Timmons wrote. “The outgoing President incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.” 

NAM is the largest manufacturing association in the US, and it traditionally lobbies to support conservative candidates and policies. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), the association spent $172,500 to support Republican candidates last year. NAM spent only $65,500 during that time supporting Democratic candidates.  

However, despite their shared conservative agenda, Timmons said that the president no longer represents the interests of NAM’s members.  That said, the group did not express regret or remorse for supporting the president all along or during his campaigns.

“This is not the vision of America that manufacturers believe in and work so hard to defend,” Timmons said. “We are trying to rebuild an economy and save and rebuild lives. But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy—because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble.”

Likewise, the chairman and CEO of IBM said on Twitter that his company also denounced the pro-Trump terrorism at the Capitol yesterday.  

“IBM condemns today’s unprecedented lawlessness and we call for it to end immediately,” he wrote. “These actions have no place in our society, and they must stop so our system of democracy can work.” 

In 2016, the former CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty sent an open letter to President-elect Trump in which she expressed praise for his campaign and vision for America. 

“I know that you are committed to help America’s economy grow in ways that are good for all its people,” Rommetty wrote.  

IBM also did not take responsibility for previously enabling the president.

Business Roundtable, a lobbying group that represents CEOs across the country also said that it’s time for the president to put an end to the violence. The group endorsed Trump in 2016 and spent $60,300 on contributions to Republicans last year. At the same time, they only contributed  $9,180 to Democratic candidates, according to the CRP.  

The organization’s statement said that the chaos that unfolded in the nation’s capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election. It went on to say that the country deserves better, and called on the president and all relevant officials to facilitate the peaceful transition of power.  

In addition to his more outspoken followers, Trump is also losing the support of some of the largest titans of industry in the US.  

Today, Facebook announced that it would block President Trump’s accounts there and on Instagram at least until after the inauguration. That notice came after Twitter yesterday blocked the president’s account temporarily, noting that President Trump was violating its terms by inciting violence. His account has since become active again on Twitters. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a statement acknowledging that the company believed the president would spend his remaining days in office trying to undermine the peaceful transition of power. “We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” he said. “Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

Facebook does not financially support Republicans over Democrats. It spent $5.9 million on Democrats in 2020, the same year it spent $766,610 on Republicans, according to CRP. However, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly met with the president throughout his term in office.