Toyota announced Friday that it would no longer contribute financial support to any politicians who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election.
“We understand that the PAC [political action committee] decision to support select Members of Congress who contested the results troubled some stakeholders,” said a statement from the Japan-based automaker.
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In the statement, Toyota said that its PAC – a group that collects funds to donate to political campaigns – has historically supported both Democratic and Republican campaigns. It also said that most politicians who received funds this year did not contest 2020 election results.
According to NBC’s Ben Collins, the voter fraud claim that led politicians to oppose certification of election results for President Joe Biden has roots the QAnon conspiracy theory. Former President Donald Trump took on the theory his efforts to use it as a way to overturn election results reached a crescendo Jan. 6, when rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol after a he gave a speech nearby.
“You know, I say, sometimes jokingly, but there’s no joke about it: I’ve been in two elections. I won them both and the second one, I won much bigger than the first,” Trump told the crowd.
Just a few days after the violent and deadly riots, more than 100 Republican members of Congress voted not to certify election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Criticism of the 2020 election has continued to be a talking point for certain Republican political figures and candidates since the riots, said CNN.
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According to the CNN business section, Toyota made the move to denounce politicians who did not support 2020 election certification after the Lincoln Project (a Republican-led PAC in opposition to Trump) released a video attacking the company for donating to those lawmakers.
American Express, BlueCross BlueShield, Amazon, Walmart and Marriott, and other organizations have also suspended donations to the 147 Republicans who objected to the Electoral College votes.