Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was on Wednesday’s CBS Mornings to discuss the struggling economy — including the belief of his chief economist that the U.S. is headed for a recession — but much of it was derailed by the liberal co-hosts pressuring the woke CEO from the left and demand he commit to paying for employees to have abortions and cover their travel expenses should they have to go to another state to end their baby’s life.
Co-host Nate Burleson made the pivot, stating he had “to hear your thoughts on something that’s been a topic of conversation” with the possible end of Roe and specifically whether Bank of America will “be doing the same” as Citigroup in “cover[ing] cover travel expenses for women that want to get abortions in other states.”
Moynihan largely stuck to esoteric corporate jargon, insisting that, once the actual opinion comes, “a group of teammates...will sit there with our HR teammates and a broader group...and say, ‘what do we need to do for our team?’”
He added he “could have a personal point of view” about abortion, but it’s irrelevant because “that’s not we do” and instead focus on “what the team wants” even if it’s “a tough issue” and Bank of America’s 200,000 employees are “representing all of America.”
This led co-host Tony Dokoupil to keep pressing, arguing he’s “said a few years ago that the role of a CEO is now driving or includes driving what you think is right” and thus it’s worth knowing whether he believes women deserve access to abortions.
In response, Moynihan cited their virulent support for gun control (which he said “had nothing to do with Second Amendment”) based on how employees were victims of mass shootings in Charleston, Las Vegas, and Orlando (click “expand”):
BURLESON: It’s a tough issue for the country.
MOYNIHAN: Yeah, it’s a tough issue. And so, we’ll see. Let us — let us go to work on — letting it play out.
DOKOUPIL: Going to work for sure, but —
KING: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: — you said a few years ago that the role of a CEO is now driving or includes driving what you think is right.
KING: Is right.
DOKOUPIL: On this issue before the supreme court of access to an abortion as a constitutional right, do you think it is correct that women should have that access or not?
MOYNIHAN: We — it’s the settled law of the land. We believe that people should have that access. The question — they’re — it’s going to be — there's going to be a lot of discussion about what this case says and means. And let's go back to — when we said — took a position on guns a few years ago, what happens — the team came and said, look, four of the nine victims in Charleston were related to teammates. Two people — two of our teammates were in Las Vegas. Four people in the pulse nightclub. And I went down to Orlando, talked to them a couple days after. One was a — an EMT from the military, had been in, you know, Afghanistan and war. He said this was the worst thing he's ever seen.
KING: I remember that.
MOYNIHAN: They said we have to do something about the high impact rifle — had nothing to do with Second Amendment —
BURLESON: Right.
MOYNIHAN: — nothing to do with the right to hunt. And so, we took that position because our team said, “what are you doing?”
Moynihan continued to try and prove himself before the woke co-host by also citing demands from certain employees to oppose “the so-called bathroom bill in North Carolina because our team wouldn't come to meetings because they said they didn't feel safe.”
In other words, like most things nowadays, liberal Bank of America employees can achieve whatever they want so long as they hurl some combination of threats and meltdowns akin to a kid losing it in the middle of a grocery store.
Sure enough, Moynihan admitted as much: “So, you have to shape [the company’s stances] around what they say.”
Before wrapping with a question about “what’s keeping you up at night” that drew predictable answers such as the pandemic, fears of a recession, and cybersecurity, co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King made her run at him from the left, by wondering “what guides your decision-making process” since he’s “known as a CEO that makes decisions that are beyond business decisions.”
Sounding like a true corporate liberal, Moynihan said Bank of America’s political stances are based on whether “our people can be effective” and “serve our customers well,” whether it’s shareholders or “our communities.”
CBS’s latest force-feeding of corporate liberalism to viewers was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Dawn and Progressive. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant CBS transcript from May 4, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
May 4, 2022
7:34 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The Fight Against Inflation; Bank of America CEO on Soaring Inflation & Possibility of a Recession]
NATE BURLESON: I would like to hear your thoughts on something that’s been a topic of conversation over the last couple of days. The Supreme Court is reportedly planning to overturn Roe v. Wade. There have been reports that major employers, including Citigroup, that they're going to cover travel expenses for women that want to get abortions in other states. Will Bank of America be doing the same?
BRIAN MOYNIHAN: With all things like this, we look at what our team needs from us. First of all, the decision has to come down and the leak and everything that you guys have been covering is — is tragic in a sense. But ,when the case comes down, we have a group of teammates that will sit there with our HR teammates and a broader group — they’ll sit and say, “what do we need to do for our team?” So, the positions we take on this and other matters is drilled — as a company, has to be over what our team needs.
BURLESON: And their reaction to —
MOYNIHAN: I could have a personal point of view, but that's not — that’s not what we do. We go into it and have a view of what the team wants. So, give us a few — give us — the case has to come out and give us a reaction and we’ll figure out what we'll do. But this — you know, this is a tough issue for our team. We have 200,000 people representing all of America.
BURLESON: It’s a tough issue for the country.
MOYNIHAN: Yeah, it’s a tough issue. And so, we’ll see. Let us — let us go to work on — letting it play out.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Going to work for sure, but —
KING: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: — you said a few years ago that the role of a CEO is now driving or includes driving what you think is right.
KING: Is right.
DOKOUPIL: On this issue before the Supreme Court of access to an abortion as a constitutional right, do you think it is correct that women should have that access or not?
MOYNIHAN: We — it’s the settled law of the land. We believe that people should have that access. The question — they’re — it’s going to be — there's going to be a lot of discussion about what this case says and means. And let's go back to — when we said — took a position on guns a few years ago, what happens — the team came and said, look, four of the nine victims in Charleston were related to teammates. Two people — two of our teammates were in Las Vegas. Four people in the pulse nightclub. And I went down to Orlando, talked to them a couple days after. One was a — an EMT from the military, had been in, you know, Afghanistan and war. He said this was the worst thing he's ever seen.
KING: I remember that.
MOYNIHAN: They said we have to do something about the high impact rifle — had nothing to do with Second Amendment —
BURLESON: Right.
MOYNIHAN: — nothing to do with the right to hunt. And so, we took that position because our team said, “what are you doing?” We took the position about, you know, the so-called bathroom bill in North Carolina because our team wouldn't come to meetings —
KING: Mmhmm.
MOYNIHAN: — because they said they didn't feel safe.
KING: But, Brian —
MOYNIHAN: So, you have to shape it —
KING: — you’re known as a CEO —
MOYNIHAN: — around what they say.
KING: — that makes decisions that are beyond business decisions.
MOYNIHAN: Yep.
KING: So, if — if your employees and your customers take a stand, is that what guides your decision-making process on these issues?
MOYNIHAN: And we have a lot of people, lot of stands. But the question is: Can our people be effective? Can they serve our customers well? Can they do the things and that's how we take it. So, we believe we have four constituents to run our company. We believe profits and purpose. The fourth constituent’s communities. It’s — I put it in my annual report letter, and that’s how we run it and we deliver for the shareholder —
KING: Yeah.
MOYNIHAN: — and we deliver for society. So, it's not like we go out and find issues to talk about. It's those issues that are important to our communities because, at the end of the day, a bank reflects its communities. So that —
KING: What's keeping you up at night, Brian? Listen, for most people it's gas prices, grocer — what's keeping you up at night —
MOYNIHAN: Look, we have —
KING: — before you go?
MOYNIHAN: The big issues are still — we have a pandemic to finish getting through.
KING: Yep.
MOYNIHAN: And every day, I have teammates that get this disease and the good news is that —
KING: Us, too, yeah —
MOYNIHAN: — the impact is so much lower, the vaccines were wonderful. The science embedded in that, the work done is unbelievable.
BURLESON: Right.
MOYNIHAN: So, that's one. The Russian/Ukraine war — does it backup and create a recession in Europe and around the world? That's more of an economic question. And then, you know, the usual parade of interesting things, cybersecurity and all those types of things to worry about. But what I also have to worry about is do I have the team to serve you as a customer, and a great team, that goes back to how we think about these issues. And we have a group of people who have varying points of view, honestly —
KING: Yes.
MOYNIHAN: — of right, left, everything, who argue it out, come in, and we say we've got to do this and that’s how we get to —
KING: Sounds like you're watching the way we're watching.
