By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Trump’s pro-America orientation has resulted in rehabilitating corporate image, too
There’s little doubt, corporations get a bad rap, especially where liberals and Democrats are concerned.
Why, you ask? Well, the reasons are many, but the most prominent rationales for the left’s hatred are due to corporate size, political influence, an unmerited stigma of unfeeling profit-driven board members sitting around conference tables scheming on the best way to screw the most money out of the “little guy” — and a host of other mostly bogus stereotypes involving rumors that may or may not be accurate about “average” corporate employees.
Corporations are private sector, too, so naturally there’s a tendency by ignorant and shallow people (translation: Democrats) to assume corporate leaders are, by their nature, all “ists”, namely rac-ists, sex-ists, misogyn-ists, and/or anti-immigrant, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic. You know, according to Crooked Hillary Clinton, the half of Americans/Trump supporters who permanently reside in the infamous “Basket of Deplorables”.
Corporations, as entities, are regarded as tax-avoiders and cheats as well. Basically, non-human in orientation, as if filing for corporate tax status makes a company or organization lose their empathy or compassion for humanity.
This unjust and unwarranted (by the facts) depiction of corporate America may be changing under the leadership of President Donald Trump, however, the outsider commander-in-chief having originated from a business background and is also well-versed in the realities of big company beneficial capitalism.
Will the left’s dishonors stick to the corporate world, or are Trump’s efforts paying off? In an opinion piece titled, “Trump appeals to corporate America’s better angels”, the always salient political observer Michael McKenna wrote at The Washington Times last week:
“Corporations, like disinterested citizens, are intermediating institutions that usually take their cues from their environment. Every once in a while, however, they help set that environment. That can be bad (think Tesla helping China launch its electric vehicle industry) or good (think Neuralink helping people with disabilities).
“The current president drives people to choose sides and brings out the best and worst in people. In the past few months, in the corporate world, we have seen blue chips as diverse as Boeing, Ford and Coca-Cola getting in the spirit of the 250th. Their presence is welcome and, in some circumstances, no doubt a result of the president’s sometimes subtle and sometimes overt leadership.
“For successfully appealing to the better angels of the corporate hierarchy, we should be grateful to President Trump. We should earnestly hope that after the sugar high of the 250th is over, American companies maintain some of the residual goodwill toward their nation.”
Hear, Hear! For those familiar with McKenna’s commentaries, you understand that the Washington Times writer is basically pro-MAGA, but isn’t always complimentary of President Trump’s manner of handling his political messaging. Fair criticism is always welcome, and McKenna’s latest observations, particularly so.
Like McKenna, I too have noticed corporate America seemingly having taken a renewed patriotic posture ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. In today’s all-too-divided political atmosphere, it was smart business to do so. Leftists and communists might disagree, but the one public thing most Americans can agree upon is recognizing some semblance of national pride.
I didn’t listen to Zohran Mamdani’s July 4th address – which was supposedly filled with anti-American invective – but even the New York City Mayor must’ve thought it wise to position unnamed “diverse” individuals standing around him holding American flags.
In the communists’ example, it’s more like a false flag operation than an expression of true, heartfelt feelings.
But anyone who’s paid attention to President Trump and his way of doing things has made note that the White House occupant understands patriotism and genuinely feels warmly about the country he presides over. From what I can gather, the recent dust-up over the president’s asking of FIFA to review a controversial penalty call was motivated by his desire to see the U.S. World Cup team advance in the international tournament.
That’s about as deep as I ventured into World Cup news, so I won’t go beyond this observation.
But corporate America hasn’t always handled its own public relations efforts well, especially those companies’ ad campaigns and personnel policies that trended away from a pro-American orientation. Not all of them, mind you, but the corporations that pursued choices that, on their face, caused much consternation and head-scratching.
Examples that come to mind immediately are Budweiser’s absurd action to hire transgender “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney to promote their brand, only to trigger a boycott that severely impacted the normally pro-American viewed product as “woke” and “out of touch”.
What happened? “Financial and Operational Impact included an estimated $1.4 billion loss in North American revenue for parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev, a 20% drop in stock price in May 2023, and sustained sales declines remaining approximately 40% below pre-boycott levels as of February 2025.”
Then there was shaver-maker Gillette’s ill thought-through promotion campaign that decried men being men as “toxic masculinity” in order to impress liberals who went along with the premise that “manly men” are a scourge as opposed to Democrat scumbags who hit on women for sport. Know anyone like that, Democrats? Wasn’t Bill Clinton a proven lothario?
The hubbub over Graham Platner’s exploits (and assaults) with women finally claimed a leftist victim, this time a figurehead of the Democratic Socialists of America. Will they ever have any credibility on the “woke” issues again?
If Platner posthumously (electorally speaking) opts to shave his scruff, maybe he’d win back the kook crowd’s adoration by doing so with a Gillette razor. Just saying.
At least the corporations seemed to have learned from their offensive behavior. Bud Light ditched Mulvaney and even sponsored President Trump’s recent UFC event at the White House held a month ago to celebrate the president’s 80th birthday. If history is a guide, conservatives are inclined to forgive, but probably not forget.
There are other cases of corporations going “woke” and seeing profits severely decline to the point they’re compelled to change course. The Walt Disney Company’s inexplicable defense of DEI has all-but destroyed its filmmaking operation and Cracker Barrel, Inc. wisely switched in time to restore its traditional logo to calm public outrage.
People saw Cracker Barrel as akin to a little slice of America, and the “wokesters” went a-runnin’ as soon as they learned that ordinary Americans weren’t taking the leftward turn sitting down at a wooden table for four, so to speak. Folks didn’t love Cracker Barrel’s food as much as they did the warm feelings they felt when they patronized an entity that respected the flag.
President Trump’s success in making American patriotism “cool” again has manifested itself in other ways as well, with corporate barons willingly contributing to causes that were patriotic in nature. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg made waves in Democrat circles when their companies contributed to Trump’s inaugural committee and to paying for Inauguration festivities early last year.
Common sense suggests these entities aren’t just embracing patriotism purely out of the goodness of their hearts. Contrary to what liberals would have you believe, corporations are eminently human, and the taxes they pay – and tax rates they’re assessed – are borne by people. Democrats claim boosting the corporate tax rate has no real-life effects, but it most certainly does.
Just like guns don’t kill people – people do. Well, inanimate corporations don’t pay taxes. People do here, too. And corporations don’t vote, but the citizens who manage and work for them sure do.
Corporate stock makes up a healthy portion of most private investors’ 401K portfolio. Hiking tax rates of corporations and making them less competitive shows up on most Americans’ bottom line. Don’t believe what the communist/socialist Democrats tell you – corporations are vital to the continued health of the American economy.
Corporations don’t harm the environment or misuse resources or do harm, except when they’re trying to be something they’re not in a social sense. They don’t know religion, sexual orientation or gender, unless the people running them do the deciding. Similar to the Constitution, corporations aren’t living. But they can still have a purpose.
So, it’s a very good thing that President Trump is, as McKenna argues, “appealing to the better angels of the corporate hierarchy.” We should also hope corporate heads keep patriotism and love of country in mind in their everyday business dealings. It’s smart politics, but it’s also good business.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .