Former US President Donald Trump has called on GOP supporters and conservatives to boycott major American companies that have opposed Georgia’s electoral law recently.
“Finally, the time has come for a rebuff from the Republicans and the Conservatives - we have more, much more people than they do!
Boycott Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck.
Don't go back to their products until they give in.
We can play better than them, ”Trump said in a statement released by his Save America Political Committee.
Recall that in the 2020 US presidential elections, Georgia was one of the so-called key states, a victory in which significantly increased the candidate's chances of becoming the leader of the race.
According to the voting results, Joe Biden won the victory in Georgia.
Trump and his campaign headquarters said that the elections in this state were held with irregularities, and Biden won only thanks to fraud.
However, after a manual recount of ballots, Biden's victory was still confirmed.
He won by just 12,000 votes and became the first Democrat since 1992 to win a presidential vote in Georgia.
Trump's lawyers insisted that the bulk of the violations were related to ballots received by mail, but the Republican's lawyers were unable to prove their case in court.
Rules voting
On March 26, 2021, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a new election law.
The state House of Representatives passed it with 100 votes in favor and 75 against, and the local Senate approved it with 34 votes in favor and 20 against.
The Associated Press notes that the voters were divided according to party affiliation - all local parliamentarians who supported the adoption of the bill were Republicans.
Kemp himself, during the signing, said that the reason for the adoption of this law was the results of the 2020 presidential elections.
“After the elections last November, I, like so many of you, realized that the state elections needed significant reforms,” the Governor of Georgia said.
Votes recount in Georgia for the 2020 presidential election
AFP
© Megan Varner / Getty Images
Despite the fact that the law was passed in a more lenient version than in the original version, it introduces a number of restrictions on the voting procedure and the conduct of elections in this state, the newspaper The New York Times notes.
According to journalists, the number of ballot boxes is being limited, supervision of district election commissions is being introduced, and the circle of persons who will be allowed to vote in absentia by mail is limited.
In addition, it is now prohibited to distribute food and drinks to citizens queuing at polling stations.
The law also states that the second round of elections should be held four weeks after the first, instead of the previously set nine weeks.
In addition, in accordance with the law, those taking part in absentee voting by mail must now provide, along with the ballots, a copy of their identity documents with a photo.
This law caused a negative reaction among Democratic politicians and various human rights organizations.
Their representatives claim that the law is allegedly aimed at restricting the electoral rights of representatives of ethnic minorities.
Thus, activists from The New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter and Rise Inc.
filed a lawsuit against Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the State Election Commission, in which they indicate that this law allegedly contradicts the US Constitution and a number of parts of the federal voting rights law.
“These unreasonable measures - both individually and collectively - will unconstitutionally hinder the exercise of the right to vote, deny or restrict the voting rights of blacks in Georgia, and deprive black voters in Georgia of equal access to the electoral process and the selection of candidates in accordance with their preferences, ”the lawsuit says.
Without any good reason
The 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, also condemned the law.
On the day it was signed, the White House issued a statement on behalf of the head of state comparing the new measures to discriminatory laws that limited the rights of African Americans until the 1960s.
“This is a return to the era of (laws. -
RT
) Jim Crow in the 21st century.
This must be stopped, ”the president said in a statement.
In addition, Biden accused the Republican Party of undermining democratic institutions.
"This law, like many other initiatives promoted by Republicans in legislatures across the country, constitutes an infringement of the Constitution and moral principles," the White House said in a statement.
Voting in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia
AFP
© Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
However, neither human rights activists nor Biden explain exactly how Georgia's law infringes the voting rights of African Americans.
American experts in a conversation with RT emphasized that all ethnic minorities, including black residents of the United States, have the full range of electoral and civil rights that all other citizens of the country are entitled to.
"For the purpose of emotional manipulation, the Democratic Party traditionally projects the past orders of the early and mid-20th century and the once unfair treatment of certain categories of citizens onto modern realities without any good reason," said the chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada in an interview with RT RAS Vladimir Vasiliev.
At the same time, the position of Biden and human rights activists was supported by large American business.
On April 2, The Civic Alliance distributed an open letter condemning Georgia’s restrictions.
It was signed by about 200 companies, including Coca-Cola mentioned by Donald Trump, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase bank, television giant ViacomCBS, Citigroup bank, IT company Cisco, logistics giant UPS and many others.
By calling for a boycott of these companies, Trump is trying not only to declare himself, but also to discipline American big business, “punish” those who supported the Democrats during the 2020 election campaign, and switch big capital to finance the Republican Party, Vasilyev said.
"In addition, a dubious defeat in such a key state as Georgia with a minimal margin is a sore point for Trump," the expert recalled.
From the same position, the attitude of the democrats to the new law is also explainable, who do not want to lose the mechanisms and methods with which "they can drag their candidates through," added Vasiliev.
“This law in Georgia excludes the factor of mass fraud, falsifications, therefore, the Democratic Party met him with a similar reaction.
If the election process is streamlined in all states, it will be difficult for Democrats to be elected in the next elections, given that they do not know other forms of struggle, ”the political scientist explained.
The choice of discriminatory topics on the part of the US Democratic Party is not accidental, since in the next election cycles they plan to win precisely at the expense of minorities, Vasiliev emphasized.
“Now the Democrats are pushing through a law that allows them to legalize 11 million migrants so that later they can use the system of massive fraud that ensured their success in the last elections.
But the law passed in Georgia is also aimed at cutting off migrants in the next presidential elections, ”the expert noted.
In turn, Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that by his statement Donald Trump demonstrates to the electorate that he has not abandoned his political ambitions.
"Trump feels that there is resentment in society towards Biden, who cannot rule the United States due to his health condition, therefore, he demonstrates his desire to continue the fight," the political scientist said.
At the same time, the measures prescribed in the law of Georgia are reasonable and indicate that the actions of the Democratic Party can be resisted, Blokhin added.
“These are reasonable measures by which Trump could protect himself from competitors in the next election.
The fact that the Democrats took advantage of the opportunity to vote by mail in the past presidential elections does not mean that they have a trump card, a mechanism by which they will continue to win, ”he said.
Now Trump, attacking opponents of the Republican Party in this vector, continues to strengthen his own political platform, Blokhin added.
“It is not known what Trump will be by the 2024 elections, and whether he will be able to participate in them for health reasons, but so far the Republicans do not have a person in charisma and popularity who can be compared to Trump,” the political scientist concluded.