Toyota will no longer donate to ‘Sedition Caucus’

July 15, 2021

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Toyota will no longer donate to Republicans who refused to certify Pres. Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Donald Trump, the corporation announced on Friday.

The vehicle maker and manufacturer announced early in the afternoon on July 9 that it will no longer donate to the campaigns of Republicans in the legislative branch who voted to not certify Biden’s Electoral College victory on Jan. 6. The announcement comes a day after a group of activists who call themselves The Lincoln Project unveiled a political ad that targeted the motor giant.

The announcement comes at a time when eyes are beginning to look towards 2022, when the next House of Representatives midterm election occurs. House Democrats hold a slim majority (220-211, four vacancies) over their Republican counterparts. The two parties are locked (50-50) in the Senate. The Democrats hold an advantage in the Senate, being that Vice Pres. Kamala Harris holds any potential tie-breaking vote. The party breakdown in both chambers is so slim that every seat up for grabs will be an important one.

This is where campaign donations come into play. The lifeblood of any political campaign is money. Candidates need it to travel; to pay for advertisements for print, radio, TV and internet; to pay campaign staffers for hours worked; and every candidate will work furiously ahead of next November’s elections to raise more money than their respective opponent.

According to OpenSecrets.org, Toyota donated more than $1.75 million to political candidates in 2020, with nearly $1 million of their contributions going to Democrats. Toyota donated $731,927 to Republicans last year. Toyota will no longer donate to several Republicans in the federal government when the next election cycle begins, according to its own announcement.

The Sedition Caucus, also called the “Treason Caucus” and the “Seditious Caucus,” is the unofficial name given to the eight Republican senators and 139 House Republicans who voted against certifying Biden’s victory this past January. After Trump supporters entered the US Capitol and interrupted the certification vote, some corporations announced they would no longer donate to those who voted against certification.

Among those 147 Republicans, recipients of Toyota’s contributions include some of the more prominent names, such as Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, and Devin Nunes, R-Califonia, as well as Sens. Rick Scott, R-Florida, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Toyota said it will no longer donate to their campaigns.

The Lincoln Project has said it will target more corporations who donated to those 147 Republicans.