What do corporate America’s chief executives think of Vice President Harriss and former President Donald Trump in the general election? “Given the volatility of the [ US ] political environment, a lot of people are hedging their bets,” the financial times quoted Republican adviser Ken Spane as saying on Wednesday.
Harriss (left) and Donald Trump
The report said that while many US executives were“Privately divided”, they had avoided issues related to the presidential campaign in public for a year. Usually, they like Donald Trump’s emphasis on cutting regulatory fees and corporate taxes, but worry that he will be divisive. When President Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, zero per cent of corporate executives recognised his predictability but described his administration as “Fundamentally anti-business”. However, with Biden stepping down last month and vice-president Harriss taking over, Spain said the business community had “Moved from being prepared for a Republican administration to being prepared for outcomes”. Harriss’s long relationship with Wall Street and Silicon Valley has led some executives to believe she may reconsider Biden’s tough stance on issues such as competition, Labour and financial services policy. If so, then the business community’s“Choice between stability [ in a Democratic administration ] and a pro-business agenda [ in a Republican administration ] would not be so obvious”. This week’s Democratic National Convention will be the first real opportunity for most business people to see the difference between Biden’s and Harriss’s policies.
In retrospect, the Financial Times said, US business leaders“Overwhelmingly supported Republicans”. According to a study by the National Institute of Economic Research, between 2000 and 2017,57 percent of chief executives of S & P 1500 companies gave money to Republican presidential candidates and 19 percent to Democratic presidential candidates, others contributed to both parties’ candidates. But former President Donald Trump has not enjoyed this level of support, says Sonnenfeld, director of the Yale Institute for CEO leadership, only two fortune 100 chief executives have disclosed their donations to Donald Trump. So far this year, US chief executives have barely opened their wallets. As of June 30, only five of the 221 members of the Business Roundtable, the Chief Executive’s lobby group, had donated to candidates from both parties, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Democratic supporters“Are coming back and re-engaging,” the Financial Times quoted Barlow Ares, director of a program aimed at mobilizing business leaders to support democracy, as saying. Others in the business community say there is also more support for Donald Trump than the public record suggests.
The fact that most chief executives are reported to be openly neutral does not mean they are not following the election. Since July 1,319 companies have mentioned the upcoming election on their earnings calls, nearly twice as many as four years ago, according to Alphasense, a market intelligence firm.