McConnell condemns corporate backlash to Georgia voting law

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement Monday accusing U.S. corporations that oppose the GOP-sponsored law curbing voting access in Georgia of using "economic blackmail to spread disinformation."

Why it matters: Dozens of CEOs and corporations have spoken out in the wake of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signing the new law, which institutes strict new ID requirements, gives the Republican-controlled state legislature more control over elections, and limits the use of ballot drop boxes, among other restrictions.

• Many of the statements of opposition came after activists threatened to boycott Georgia-based corporations, such as Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.
• The MLB announced last week that it would move its All-Star Game out of Atlanta as a result of the new restrictions.

What he's saying: “We are witnessing a coordinated campaign by powerful and wealthy people to mislead and bully the American people," McConnell said in the statement.

• "The President has claimed repeatedly that state-level debates over voting procedures are worse than Jim Crow or ‘Jim Crow on steroids.’ Nobody actually believes this," he continued.
• "Nobody really thinks this current dispute comes anywhere near the horrific racist brutality of segregation. But there’s an old cynical saying that ‘history is just the set of lies agreed upon.'"

McConnell points to a Washington Post fact-check that debunked a claim by President Biden that the Georgia law "ends voting hours early," and he calls it "the big lie" — a phrase frequently used by Democrats to describe former President Trump's false claims about widespread election fraud.

• “Our private sector must stop taking cues from the Outrage-Industrial Complex. Americans do not need or want big business to amplify disinformation or react to every manufactured controversy with frantic left-wing signaling," McConnell argued.

• "Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order. "

Driving the news: McConnell's statement comes just two days after Trump urged his followers to boycott corporations that have spoken out against Georgia's voting restrictions.

• Trump specifically targeted MLB, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS and Merck.

Go deeper: CEOs, corporations speak out against Georgia's voting restrictions