Several major companies have signed on to sponsor President Donald Trump’s plans to celebrate the United States’ founding, which will officially kick off with a Christian nationalist prayer event on the National Mall on May 17.
And there’s a push underway to force the corporate leaders to declare on the record whether they endorse the ideals the celebration is designed to honor. I recently wrote about the upcoming Rededicate 250 event on the National Mall, which will include far-right Christian nationalists who have pressed for an end to the constitutional separation between church and state.
The gathering, which the White House said will feature a “large-scale revival,” is one of the events that Trump and a bunch of companies are planning to execute under the Freedom 250 name, a separate slate of programming from the congressionally authorized America250 programs.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that some executives have been “confused” by the fact that they have received sponsorship requests from both America250 and the more Trump-centric Freedom 250.
Nonetheless, several major companies are listed as sponsors for Freedom 250, an organization that has come under scrutiny from congressional Democrats. The sponsors include credit company Mastercard, software company SAP, consulting firm Deloitte and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
Journalist Nancy Levine Stearns is the founder of Impactivize, a platform that focuses on “inclusivity and civil rights in America.” She basically has been covering Trump’s assault on diversity and corporations’ complicity in it.
I have referenced her work previously — such as in this post, which highlighted her running tally of corporations whose shareholders have rejected anti-diversity proposals.
She also has been keeping track of the list of sponsors for Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration, while flagging the event’s heavy emphasis on Christian nationalism.
Check our her recent reporting on the status of the sponsorships here. Stearns has been seeking comment from each of the sponsors on their support — or lack thereof — for Trump’s Christian nationalist gathering, in particular. She said none of the organizations have responded to her questions thus far.
Her open letter to Mastercard’s CEO, which you can read here, says in part:
Question: How does Mastercard reconcile sponsoring Trump’s white Christian nationalist ‘Rededicate’ event, presented by a president who is fomenting racist hatred and violence, with the company’s mission, established by the Center for Inclusive Growth?
Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth is essentially a hub where the corporation touts its efforts to foster a welcoming work environment.
In a statement sent to me via email, Stearns said her insistence upon pressing for answers is about calling out the corporations’ “complicity.”
“Even if corporate sponsors of Trump’s Freedom 250 and its Rededicate 250 event were ‘confused’ when they signed on to sponsor Trump’s Christian nationalist hijack of America’s birthday (as the Wall Street Journal reported some were) that excuse doesn’t relieve them of responsibility,” Stearns wrote.
She added: “Given the enormity of danger surrounding Christian nationalist extremism in our country — it’s a violent and racist movement — corporate sponsors must speak up. Some are guilty; all are responsible. Silence confers tacit agreement and is an act of complicity.”
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