U.S. business leaders are not known for issuing immediate and emotional statements about turbulent political events, but the storms of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 by violent pro-Trump supporters have inspired some executives to speak quickly.
A few hours after the MAGA mob broke into the government building, the powerful Business Roundtable, an organization of CEOs that began advocating for the social purpose of companies in 2019, issued a statement on Twitter sent by several of its members or their companies have been strengthened. along with a number of other prominent voices in the business world.
Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, add his thoughts on the Business Roundtable’s statement, tweeting, “Well said. This is a day to express our Constitution and its values. (Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted Smith without comment.)
Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VM Ware, also quoted the business group on Twitter, adding: ‘America is at its best when we are united and working as one nation. There is nothing good about the violent and illegal protests in DC. I pray today for a peaceful transition of leadership.
Andrew Liveris, former chairman and CEO of Dow Chemicals, spoke with him a more personal message: “When I see it from Australia on TV, it evokes my memories of my experiences in emerging economies with state capture, fighting in parliament and street violence. The USA is our beacon for freedom and democratic principles. It is tragic to see what is happening now. ”
And Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, said: “Strongly agree. ”
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who chaired the Business Roundtable in 2019 (it is not the chairman of Walmart’s Doug McMillon), made his own statement about how we as a country are ‘better than that’. ‘
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian calls the violent mob at the US Capitol ‘domestic terrorists’.
Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce, addressed a kind of prayer to “The One Who Brings Peace”.
For the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is the specific person to take the lead. Their demand to him: Now consider removing Trump from office.
Chris Sacca, the venture capitalist and entrepreneur known for his previous period in the reality show Shark Tank, sent a message to two Silicon Valley co-leaders, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, urging him to allow the spread of misinformation and hatred on their massive platforms:
At the time of this writing, there was no word from Zuckerberg or Dorsey. However, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all removed a video of Trump addressing the events of the day, and Facebook said it believes the one-minute cut ‘contributes to reducing the risk of constant violence. ‘ ‘
Twitter also suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours, deleting three of his tweets and warning him that he could be permanently blocked from the site if he continues to violate the site’s policies by inciting violence and sharing conspiracy theories.