Corporate America stays on sidelines as Trump attacks ‘the squad’ – Washington Examiner

President Trump’s recent insults of four minority lawmakers, all Democrats, were swiftly condemned by their allies and even a handful of Republicans.

But Fortune 500 CEOs, under pressure from employees to cut ties with the Trump administration over controversial policies including a crackdown on illegal immigration, have so far offered little resistance to the remarks about Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — known collectively as “the squad.”

Thus far only one, the head of German conglomerate Siemens AG, has criticized Trump directly. “I find it depressing that the most important political office in the world is turning into the face of racism and exclusion,” Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said on Twitter. “I have lived in the USA for many years, experiencing freedom, tolerance and openness as never before.”

The lack of pushback may stem from a fear that Trump will use his Twitter feed, with an audience of more than 62 million, to target critical executives or their companies in response, said Thomas Cooke, a professor of business law at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

More than two years into Trump’s presidency, “it’s perfectly clear that if you want to engage in a dispute with Trump and take it public, you will be the next company he attacks, the next CEO,” Cooke said. “He is so openly offensive to corporations and individuals that there’s a certain level of paranoia.”

The president’s feud with the four freshman Democrats began in mid-July when he said on Twitter the lawmakers should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” All four of the congresswomen are U.S. citizens, and three of the four were born in the U.S. Omar was born in Somalia.

Both Democrats and some Republicans said the comment was racist and called on the president to delete the offending message. Trump instead doubled down on his attacks.

During an event at the White House, where he was showcasing products made by businesses in all 50 states, the president delivered a message aimed at the Democratic women: “If you’re not happy in the U.S., if you’re complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave.”

The rhetoric persisted at a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, where supporters chanted “send her back” in reference to Omar.

Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs of the country’s largest companies, weighed in without mentioning Trump by name. The organization “encourages our political leaders to debate the issues on merit and come together on solutions to benefit American workers, families and communities,” according to a statement. “Welcoming immigrants and their descendants is a core American value.”

The muted response from the rest of corporate America, however, contrasts with sharper resistance the president faced earlier in his term.

His August 2017 remarks about the deadly clash between white supremacists and counterprotesters, in which Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” sparked an exodus of corporate leaders from his presidential advisory boards. The mass resignations prompted Trump to disband four of the panels.

Companies like Amazon, Starbucks, and Google also lined up against Trump’s travel ban, which restricted travel to the U.S. from five Muslim-majority countries, while the leaders of Apple, Facebook, and Chobani, among others, slammed the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, which has led to the separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, urged those who have stayed silent to “speak up and speak out.”

“All of us — including elected officials at all levels, private citizens, civil society leaders, and private sector executives — must denounce this dangerous rhetoric,” Gupta said. “No one gets a pass.”

Cooke, for his part, commends the CEOs who do speak up. “I say ‘hats off’ to the corporate leader that has the guts to say out loud, ‘You’re not speaking with knowledge, not speaking honestly, not presenting people with the full story, and presenting half-truths,” he said.