'They don't like the idea America is a banana republic': Diehard Trump Republicans on collision course with business

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Pointedly, several of the statements argued that indulging baseless conspiracy theories — including that Biden only won thanks to mass voter fraud — was bad for business at a time when executives want Washington to tackle the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Sowing further distrust in the political system “threatens the economic recovery … our country desperately needs,” said the Business Roundtable, which is led by Doug McMillon, Walmart chief executive.

Richard Edelman, head of the eponymous public relations group, said: “CEOs are scared. They don’t like the idea America is a banana republic.”

A Financial Times analysis found that the 13 senators supporting Trump’s last-gasp effort to cling to power have been bankrolled by some of corporate America’s biggest names. Together they received nearly US$2 million over the 2019-20 election cycle from the political action committees of companies including Koch Industries, Berkshire Hathaway, UPS and AT&T.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale School of Management professor who convened a call of 33 top executives on Tuesday to discuss how business should respond, said there was “universal outrage” among a group that usually spanned the political spectrum.

In a straw poll taken during the call, 88 per cent said officials supporting Trump’s stance were “aiding and abetting sedition”; just over half said they would consider cutting investment in the senators’ states; and 100 per cent said companies should warn lobbyists that they would no longer fund politicians denying the election results.