US Biggest Corporations Fear Showing Support To The Republican Party

The biggest companies of the country fear showing support to the conservative party will tarnish their own image if Trump was to win the Republican caucus.

'Among the most reknown companies of the country there is a growing nervous feeling regarding which role they must play at the National Republican Convention held in July given Trump is most likely to win the Republican nomination. These corporations normally support the biggest Republican gathering, on the other hand they now fear such an open support would lead simply to bad publicity given Trump's racist, full of hatred and sexist rhetoric. Besides, he said there would be riots if he was not coming out victorious of the Republican vote, which even deepened the big corporations'fear of generating a bad buzz'.

Besides, he said there would be riots if he was not coming out victorious of the Republican vote, which even deepened the big corporations'fear of generating a bad buzz'.

An array of activist groups is organizing a campaign to pressure the companies to refuse to sponsor the gathering, which many of the corporations have done for the Republican and the Democratic Parties for decades.

The pressure is emerging as some businesses and trade groups are privately debating whether to scale back their participation, according to interviews with more than a dozen lobbyists, consultants and fund-raisers directly involved in the conversations.

Apple, Google and Walmart are among the companies assessing their plans for the convention, which will be held July 18 to 21 in Cleveland.

In addition to Mr. Trump’s divisive politics, there is the possibility that protests, or even violence, will become a focus of attention at the convention. Mr. Trump has suggested that there will be “riots” if he is not chosen as the party’s nominee, and the city of Cleveland recently sought bids for about 2,000 sets of riot gear for its police force.

A reduction in support from major corporations would be worrisome for Cleveland, which celebrated the awarding of the convention last year as a symbol of the city’s rebirth. The host committee is seeking to raise about $64 million for the event.

“I have talked to several people at companies who have said, ‘I’ve always gone to the convention, I’ve always participated at some level, but this year we’re not putting it in our budget, we’re not going, we’re not going to sponsor any of the events going on,’ ” said Carla Eudy, a Republican fund-raising consultant.

The question of corporate involvement is not the only challenge. For the first time since the Nixon era, federal funds will not be provided to defray the cost of the conventions, putting a greater burden on the parties to raise money.

Both the city of Cleveland and the Republican party are counting on this gathering to raise funds but Trump's virulent discourse will cause them to lose earnings on that occasion.