Toyota announced that its political action committee (PAC) will stop contributing to members of Congress who contested the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In a statement released Thursday, the Japanese automaker said it understands that its PAC’s decision to support those Congress members “troubled some stakeholders.”
The company also explained that its bipartisan PAC equally supports Democrats and Republicans running for Congress, and that the “vast majority” of its contributions went to Democrats and Republicans who supported the election certification.
The move to stop these contributions comes amid a social media backlash and after another PAC, the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said it would begin running ads criticizing companies for such donations.
In response to Toyota’s announcement, The Lincoln Project tweeted, “Toyota made the right choice today. They put democracy ahead of transactional politics. We hope that the rest of corporate America will follow their lead.”
Toyota’s decision comes about six months after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress gathered to certify Biden’s win. The violent riot left five people dead and led to hundreds of arrests. In the wake of the attack, many companies committed to ending donations to the lawmakers who voted against certification.
Last month, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) also compiled data that showed that many corporations were still making donations to the 147 lawmakers who objected to certifying President Joe Biden’s win.
Toyota was atop the list. The company donated $56,000 to 38 members of Congress who voted against certification, according to CREW.
