Fearful of a potential consumer backlash and guilt by association, corporations are heeding the advice of corporate consultants and keeping their distance from the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee where Donald Trump will likely be coronated as the 2024 presidential nominee.
According to a report from CNBC, advocacy group Color of Change has put potential corporate sponsors on notice that they will be singled out for linking themselves with the party that will be backing the embattled ex-president who is facing 88 criminal indictments.
With Color of Change’s Rashad Robinson cautioning, “I want to make it clear that this is something we are paying attention to,” the report notes that “risk-adverse” corporations are taking note and, so far, taking a pass on the July gathering of Republicans in Wisconsin.
“NBC News interviewed more than 15 major corporate fundraisers and consultants with corporate clients. Many expressed concern over a charged political climate that they worry could backfire on their brand or where an investment would not pay off.
“Some said they feared being tied to Trump, given the litany of criminal charges against the former president. Others said the environment is too fragile, given the unrest exploding at college campuses across the country, ” the report states.
According to Greg Goldner of Resolute Consulting, “The 88 counts against former President Donald Trump, what we see today with college protests — all of it has made C-suites very reticent and very deliberate with how they want to engage, if at all.”
One lobbyist suggested convention sponsorships may not be worth the money spent, no matter the nominee, explaining, “I think the deal is there is less interest in the conventions because they are basically a big TV show. People are sort of like, ‘Do I want to pay extra to be on a TV show? What’s the value of this thing?’”
“Trump and the baggage that comes with backing him was most often cited as a consideration by many of the corporate donors and consultants, indicative of Republicans’ struggle to reel in some of the major corporate sponsors that have traditionally been willing to back the GOP convention, “CNBC’s Brian Schwartz and Natasha Korecki reported.
“Some donors to previous Republican conventions over the last decade have yet to move ahead with any plans to support the GOP event in Milwaukee out of fear of a public outcry for backing Trump, according to four people familiar with the matter.”
