Silicon Valley is full of opportunities for political donations. But a Soros-funded organization wants to make sure any support goes to the correct side of the political spectrum.
Politico reported on February 9 that major tech companies, such as Google and Facebook, offered “the same technical assistance,” as well as financial aid, to the Republican party as they did to the Democrat party in 2016. George Soros-funded Color of Change objected to tech giving the GOP any support. “It’s no longer acceptable for these companies to play both sides like they’re equal,” said the group’s President Rashad Robinson.
He also said that tech companies that “invested resources and money into a candidate who believes that there were good people on both sides of what happened in Charlottesville” were “going to have to be held accountable for it.” That was an unsubtle criticism of President Donald Trump’s comments following riots in Charlottesville.
Robinson had expressed a similar sentiment to the Washington Post before the 2016 election. He said that his organization and a handful of others had made sure 16 companies did not donate to the Republican National Committee in 2016.
Heidi Hess, director for CREDO Action, (which donates to Color of Change and other Soros groups), told Politico, “Any money that any corporation gives to the convention is really money straight into Trump’s pockets to run for re-election, and we know who they’re sponsoring when they do that.”
Tech companies barely donate to GOP candidates at all. They instead flood the Democrats with millions of dollars worth of contributions. Business Insider reported that 90 percent of political donations from Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google were to the Democrats over 14 years, .
Facebook is already making moves to avoid any further involvement with the Republican presidential campaign in 2020, according to Politico. The company will not be sending staff to GOP campaigns to provide support and guidance.
Google and Facebook both sponsored different elements of the GOP during the 2016 presidential campaigns. Google provided live video at the GOP convention, and Facebook sponsored a visitor center at the convention. But in the 2018 midterm elections, Facebook took down President Trump’s immigration ad on its platform, while Google censored LiveAction’s ad with Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
