Corporate cash flows to Arizona extremist
Welcome back to Popular Information, a newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism — written by me, Judd Legum. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) is term-limited, and voters will choose his replacement in November. Just three weeks ago, Ducey warned Arizona voters against selecting Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor for a local Fox affiliate. Lake secured the endorsement of Donald Trump by making the lie that Trump won the 2020 election the centerpiece of her campaign. “You know how to know [the news is] fake?” Lake said in her first TV ad. “Because they won’t even cover the biggest story out there: the rigged election of 2020.” Our FIRST TV Ad dropped today. I am ONLY airing this video in the middle of Corporate News programs.
The best part? They cannot refuse my Ads thanks to FCC rules. If the Fake News is hell-bent on lying about the 2020 Election, I’ll force them to air some uncomfortable truths. During a single campaign appearance in May, Lake "claimed nearly a dozen times in a single hour that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald J. Trump." She said she was running for Governor because "[w]e need some people with a backbone to stand up for this country — we had our election stolen." In June, all the Republican candidates were asked to raise their hands if they thought the 2020 election was "corrupt" and "stolen." When one candidate declined to raise her hand, Lake tweeted that it was "disqualifying." “Would you agree that we had a corrupt, stolen election? Raise your hand”
Only one #AZGOV Candidate REFUSED to raise her hand: Karrin Taylor Robson.
Disqualifying. Lake said that if she were Governor, she would not have certified Biden's victory in Arizona. (Ducey did certify Biden's win, despite pressure from Trump allies, because Biden won the most votes in Arizona.) According to Ducey, Lake is fundamentally dishonest and inauthentic. "Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence," Ducey said during a July 17 interview on CNN. He said her campaign was "all an act" and she was simply "putting on a show" in an effort to win the Republican nomination. Ducey said the persona Lake adopted to attract support "bears no resemblance… to anything she's done over the past 30 years." Ducey could not have been more clear: Lake is not a person who should be entrusted with Arizona's most powerful elected office. But then, on August 5, Lake was declared the winner of the Republican primary. The next day, Ducey endorsed Lake. But Ducey's abrupt reversal is not just a matter of his personal integrity. In addition to being the outgoing governor of Arizona, Ducey is also the co-chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA). Ducey says the RGA, under his leadership, is already spending money on television ads supporting Lake. As co-chairman of the Republican Governors Association, our organization is already active on the airwaves supporting Kari Lake’s candidacy. Congratulations to Kari on a hard-fought victory and to all the candidates who will be carrying the GOP banner in November. 3/ The RGA is financed, in part, by large checks written by major corporations. These corporations, through the RGA, will now be financially supporting a candidate that has called for the jailing of journalists who reported that Biden's win in Arizona was legitimate. Lake supports enforcement of total abortion ban from 1901The 2020 election is not the only issue where Lake has embraced an extremist position. In March 2022, Ducey signed a highly-restrictive new law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. Lake says that, as governor, she would instead enforce an abortion ban passed in 1901, 11 years before Arizona became a state. The 1901 law bans all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. (The only exception is if the life of the woman is in jeopardy.) Under this law, "anyone who helps a pregnant woman obtain an abortion can be sentenced to two to five years in prison." In a June interview on Fox News, Lake said she supported closing all abortion clinics in Arizona and banning abortion pills. (Many pills used to induce abortion are also used for other purposes.) Now, corporate dollars are being used to help Lake achieve her goal of stripping all reproductive rights from millions of Arizonans. Corporations that are supporting Lake's candidacy through the RGAMajor corporate contributors to RGA in 2022 include 3M ($50,000), Anheuser-Busch ($50,000), Anthem ($500,000), Boeing ($200,000), Chevron ($260,000), Cisco ($148,500), CVS ($280,000), Deloitte ($250,000), DoorDash ($455,000), Exxon Mobil ($60,000), Google ($120,000), Johnson & Johnson ($50,000), Koch Industries ($500,000), Pfizer ($250,000), Publix ($300,000), Sherwin Williams ($100,000), Toyota ($50,000), United Airlines ($50,000), United Healthcare ($600,000), Verizon ($50,000), and Visa ($50,000). This money has helped create a war chest that is now being deployed by Ducey and the RGA to boost Lake's candidacy. Ducey has also not ruled out using these funds to support the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano. Like Lake, Mastriano enthusiastically promotes Trump's lies about the 2020 election and supports a total abortion ban. Four years ago, I started Popular Information. The reporting in this newsletter helped secure guaranteed sick leave for 170,000 restaurant workers, prompted dozens of major companies to cut off funding to Republicans who voted to overturn the election, and exposed Koch Industries' ongoing operations in Russia, ultimately pressuring the powerful corporation to exit. You can read more about the impact of Popular Information’s journalism over the last four years HERE. To preserve our independence, Popular Information relies exclusively on support from readers. But the truth is, only a small percentage of Popular Information's readers are paid subscribers. If a few more people choose to become paid subscribers, Popular Information can expose more lies, root out more corruption, and call out more hypocrites. So, if you can afford it, please support this work. |
Older messages
The people behind the bizarre non-profit trying to kill Biden's climate agenda
Monday, August 8, 2022
For more than a week, a group called United for Clean Power has run an extensive online advertising campaign arguing the reconciliation package negotiated by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe
What we can learn from Kansas
Thursday, August 4, 2022
In ruby-red Kansas, a state that voted for Trump in 2020 by a 15-point margin, anti-abortion forces developed an elaborate plan to clear the way for an abortion ban. The primary obstacle was a 2019
Twitter donates $25,000 to anti-abortion political organization
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
This story is being published in partnership with Platformer, a daily newsletter about tech and democracy. On June 17, Twitter donated $25000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), an
American Express' platinum-level duplicity
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
On January 11, 2022, Popular Information received an unsolicited email from Andrew R. Johnson, the Vice President for Corporate Affairs at American Express. This newsletter had just published our first
Corporations versus the climate
Monday, August 1, 2022
After innumerable stops and starts, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) finally agreed on a legislative package, now called the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," that would
You Might Also Like
The House Antisemitism Bill Is Bad for the Jews and Free Speech
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer the national interest The House Antisemitism Bill Is Bad for the Jews And free speech. UCLA
A whisper-thin pair of underwear
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Currently on sale ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Friday Briefing: Hamas considers Israel’s proposal
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Also, the US accused Russia of using chemical weapons. View in browser|nytimes.com Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition May 3, 2024 Author Headshot By Amelia Nierenberg Good morning. We're
Hear from AWS experts on all things cloud security in the generative AI era
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Navigate security for generative AI, automated reasoning, cryptography, & more at AWS re:Inforce GeekWire is pleased to present this special sponsored message to our Pacific NW readers. Hear from
That's Not How They Roll
Thursday, May 2, 2024
The Jivebiscuit Skate Family Reunion and other news... ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Docker, Qualtrics leaders join Seattle startup | DoorDash rips Seattle over minimum wage law
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Microsoft exec joins Mariners ownership group | Meet the latest Creative Destruction Lab grads ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: Washington state's second-largest city is the hub of an
Give Her an Actually Useful Bag
Thursday, May 2, 2024
A carry-all bag for Mom from Away. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. An Everywhere
SIROTA’S SIGNALS: We’ll Have To Wait Until 2065 — Unless This Changes
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Plus, Boeing drops incriminating evidence on an attorney, gambling takes over old-fashioned arcade games, and that time Nixon almost fought climate change. SIROTA'S SIGNALS: We'll Have To Wait
☕ Throwback
Thursday, May 2, 2024
How Seattle Mariners ads from the '80s and '90s ads inspired a new campaign. May 02, 2024 Marketing Brew It's Thursday. Move over, Drake and Kendrick Lamar: Fubo and Warner Bros. Discovery
☕ Returning the tide
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Reverse logistics explained. May 02, 2024 Retail Brew Hey there, it's Thursday. Eating in again tonight? Well, your neighborhood McDonald's may not be lovin' it. According to a new report,