Coca-Cola, whose CEO denounced the Georgia voting bill, is now striking a conciliatory tone after coming under pressure from conservatives.
The soda giant, which is based in Atlanta, was absent from a list of more than 500 corporations and individuals that signed a statement condemning any election legislation that would “restrict” voters from having “an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.” The missive was placed as a two-page Wednesday ad in the New York Times and Washington Post, with the effort being organized by the Black Economic Alliance.
Coca-Cola said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that the company “had not seen the letter” initiated by the alliance but is “certainly open to hearing their perspective.” It said it has supported the right to vote and that it will assess how to support voting rights.
COCA-COLA AND DELTA ABSENT FROM CORPORATE VOTING RIGHTS STATEMENT AFTER GOP PRESSURE
“We believe the best way to make progress now is for everyone to come together to listen, respectfully share concerns and collaborate on a path forward. We remain open to productive conversations with advocacy groups and lawmakers who may have differing views,” the company said. “It’s time to find common ground. In the end, we all want the same thing – free and fair elections, the cornerstone of our democracy.”
Coca-Cola’s Wednesday remarks are notably less confrontational than its previous statements on the Georgia voting law.
Liberal activists had pushed the company to condemn the legislation, with protesters holding a “die-in” at Atlanta’s World of Coca-Cola last month in Atlanta. Some demonstrators, including a bishop at an African Methodist Episcopal Church, even advocated for a boycott. The company soon came out swinging against the law.
“We want to be crystal clear and state unambiguously that we are disappointed in the outcome of the Georgia voting legislation,” said Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey in a statement earlier this month. “Throughout Georgia’s legislative session we provided feedback to members of both legislative chambers and political parties, opposing measures in the bills that would diminish or deter access to voting.”
Quincey was even more vociferous in censuring the voting law during an appearance on CNBC where he called the legislation “unacceptable” and a “step backwards.”
After Coca-Cola’s denunciation, the pendulum swung back the other way, and the company became a target for those on the Right who were upset about Coca-Cola’s stance on the bill.
Former President Donald Trump called on his supporters to boycott the soft drink manufacturer, among other companies, as did Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. “Don’t go back to their products until they relent. We can play the game better than them,” Trump said in an April 3 statement.
Sen. Pat Toomey, the ranking member of the Banking Committee, told the Washington Examiner on Monday, “Many conservatives will inevitably choose to walk away from these businesses” involved in pushing back against the voting law.
Coca-Cola’s newest statement to the Washington Examiner calling for “common ground” and noting that it is open to “productive conversations with advocacy groups and lawmakers” of differing views might be a sign that it is trying to tamp down the pressure from both sides of the political spectrum.
Delta Air Lines, Georgia’s largest private employer, which has also faced GOP backlash over the voting law, was likewise not a signatory on the two-page ad that ran in the major newspapers on Wednesday. Delta declined to comment when contacted by the Washington Examiner.
The corporate voting statement published on Wednesday was broad in nature and didn’t specifically address individual provisions of voting bills or warn about specific punitive action, although it did express general opposition to countrywide efforts to reform voting laws.
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“For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us,” the statement read. “We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”
