The Republican Party is at Odds With the Business Community

Traditional Republicans must be very confused when they watch some of their national leaders vilify corporate America. That’s because for at least the last one hundred years, many of the captains of industry sided with the Republican Party’s conservative views that gave governmental support for business by taking a hands off approach to the private sector. Less regulation and corporate lower taxes was basic Republican rhetoric.

That appears to be changing. Recent actions and negative comments aimed at American businesses by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Missouri senator Josh Hawley, best known for his raised power fist on the steps of the U.S. Capitol prior to the January 6 riot and insurrection, are only the party’s latest anti-business manifestations. Let’s not forget the former president’s anti-trade stance and picking winners and losers by levying selected tariffs on imports. All used to be anathema to the GOP. Now it’s seen as keeping the base happy with populism.

DeSantis, a Trump admirer ad nauseam, is now at war with the cruise ship industry that brings thousands of tourists to his state along with their annual expenditure of $9 billion. The industry employs 159,000 Floridians. No matter. He must adhere to Trumpian dogma. The governor says if the cruise line requires proof of vaccination against Covid-19 by their passengers, they are in violation of a law he supported and signed that outlaws any such mandate.

Republicans have broken with their laissez-faire past by offering legislation in congress to clip the wings of high-flying tech companies. Rounding up the usual suspects—Facebook, Google, and Apple—now face antitrust regulatory interest. Hawley, for his part, rails against transnational firms forgetting they employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in the U.S.

While it’s true that business CEOs traditionally have been leading contributors to the Republican Party and its candidates, that appears to be changing with congressional Republicans trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the party’s flirtation with authoritarian beliefs.

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Photo Illustration by 731; Photos: Getty Images (4), AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File