When you see interviews like the one below, one has to wonder: How can CNN still call itself a serious news organization? On Wednesday, CNN Newsroom anchor Poppy Harlow actively encouraged a left-wing boycott on the state of Georgia, just a few days after CBS faced backlash for doing this very same thing.
Speaking to Lyft President and co-founder John Zimmer about his company opposing the state's election security law, Harlow seemed to forget she was a journalist and not a left-wing activist. She repeatedly pushed the Democrat businessman to withdraw his company from every red state that has election security laws on the books:
"But you oppose boycotts, which is interesting given the discussion now. So I think the question then becomes, look, if you just look at Georgia, Texas, Arizona, for example, you guys operate in 101 cities in those states. That's about 15% of your total market. What are you going to do to fight laws on the cusp of passing in those states and others?" she asked, following up with a more direct call:
"Is it, is it all you can do? I mean, that's really the question now... Is there more you can actually do? Like would you consider pulling out of the city?" she pressed.
While Zimmer turned down Harlow’s pleading to pull Lyft out of Atlanta, saying it would hurt their workers and customers there, Harlow kept pushing him from the left. She proposed it was every CEO and president’s job now to be politically active (for the left of course):
“This really, I think, brings up the fundamental question for you and every other president and CEO of a company out there, which is what's the role of the CEO going forward?” she said before touting the left-wing NAACP bullying businesses to boycott the state. Harlow asked, “Is it now your job as the head of a public company to use your power and your money to decide and push what you think is best for people, even outside of your core business?”
After Zimmer expressed his support for businessmen to use their platform to weigh in on politics, the relentless CNN anchor complained again, the business community still wasn’t woke enough to satisfy the left:
“I wonder if you think using your voice louder and more CEOs speaking out sooner about this law in Georgia as it was making its way through the state legislature, or as Texas, if that would have made a difference? Some are looking now and saying, why weren't you guys screaming at the top of your lungs a month ago?” she scolded.
Not done being a propagandist for the Biden administration, Harlow ended the interview by asking the fellow Democrat if he supported the president’s massive infrastructure bill and if he would “pay for it” with a higher corporate tax rate. Spoiler alert: he said ‘yes’ to both.
Boost and Emergen-C sponsored this segment, contact them at the Conservatives Fight Back page here.
Read the relevant transcript below:
CNN Newsroom
9am EST
POPPY HARLOW:Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order. She's directing city officials to implement several things focused on voter education, trying to counteract the newly imposed restrictions but there's really only so much that can be done now because it already is the law. What is does, key, limiting the use of ballot drop boxes, cutting down early voting hours, allowing state officials to overturn local election board decisions and makes it even a crime to give people water or food waiting in line to vote. Well, Lyft is one of a growing number of companies speaking out against laws that limit the ability to vote saying they are firmly opposed to any laws limiting voting by mail. Reducing the number of days people can vote or pushing any other restrictions on access for eligible voters, particularly those disproportionately impacting black and brown communities. Joining me is John Zimmer, President of Lyft. Simply put, to make it really clear for our viewers, does Lyft oppose the new voting law in Georgia and SB-7 that passed in Texas and similar restrictive voting laws across the country?
JOHN ZIMMER, LYFT CO-FOUNDER/PRESIDENT: Yes, we do. We believe that elected officials should make it easier, not harder to vote.
HARLOW: But you oppose boycotts, which is interesting given the discussion now. So I think the question then becomes, look, if you just look at Georgia, Texas, Arizona, for example, you guys operate in 101 cities in those states. That's about 15% of your total market. What are you going to do to fight laws on the cusp of passing in those states and others?
(...)
HARLOW:Is it, is it all you can do? I mean, that's really the question now because a lot of these most restrictive laws and bills have been proposed after the 2020 election. And you are pushing now publicly passing of the John Lewis voting rights act that basically fills what was gutted from it by the Supreme Court in 2013. Is there more you can actually do? Like would you consider pulling out of the city?
(...)
HARLOW: Well, Mitch McConnell said, and I want to be clear. You're a Democrat who has been very supportive of the Biden administration. Mitch McConnell says there will be in his words, consequences for companies that speak out against the Georgia law and others. He says that you guys, any company that does this, are irritating the hell out of a lot of Republicans and it's, quote, quite stupid to jump into the middle of a highly controversial issue. What do you say to Mitch McConnell?
(...)
HARLOW: This really, I think, brings up the fundamental question for you and every other president and CEO of a company out there, which is what's the role of the CEO going forward? The head of the NAACP legal defense fund said executives like you should be feeling discomfort right now. She says, corporations have to figure out who they are in this moment. Is it now your job as the head of a public company to use your power and your money to decide and push what you think is best for people, even outside of your core business?
(...)
HARLOW: I wonder if you think using your voice louder and more CEOs speaking out sooner about this law in Georgia as it was making its way through the state legislature, or as Texas, if that would have made a difference? Some are looking now and saying, why weren't you guys screaming at the top of your lungs a month ago?
