As if Coca-Cola’s support for Hillary Rodham Clinton and cutting its support of the Republican National Convention weren’t enough to tick off President-elect Trump, new lobbying disclosure forms show it is quietly pushing for amnesty and the Trans Pacific Partnership treaty.
Two forms registered with Capitol Hill show that the soda giant has a huge policy clash with the incoming administration beyond slighting the GOP and Trump during the presidential campaign.
One of the forms detailing Coke’s lobbying reveals their TPP support. Under lobbying activity, the company wrote: “Issues relating to support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Environmental Goods Agreement.”
In a video statement Monday, Trump vowed to kill TPP. “On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores,” Trump said.
A second disclosure form from Coke lobbyists at the Glover Park Group includes immigration, an issue the Atlanta-based company has embraced in newspaper op-eds and even a 2014 Super Bowl ad.
The Coca Cola company is not happy with me–that’s okay, I’ll still keep drinking that garbage.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2012
Donald Trump once reacted to Coke criticism with this tweet.
Lobbying activity includes, “Advocating comprehensive immigration reform.”
In 2013, Coke’s CEO Muhtar Kent wrote in USA Today that lawmakers should provide “a clear way forward for undocumented workers — a potential route to U.S. citizenship that bears all the rights, responsibilities and obligations of that coveted status.”
To policy critics of liberalized immigration, including Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions, that is code language for amnesty which Trump has vowed to reject.
In addition to those issues that clash with Trump’s agenda, emails leaked this year showed a close relationship with Coke and the Clinton campaign. Not only did Kent donate to Clinton, the company was a big donor to the Clinton Foundation. What’s more, they did not match their prior $660,000 sponsorship of this year’s Republican National Convention.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
