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Biden Urges Boycott of Georgia Businesses over Tougher Voting Laws

Nueva ley electoral, Georgia, Joe Biden, empresas abandonan

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Georgia’s new election law is making headlines everywhere. The media and social activists, mostly sympathetic to Democrats, have been furiously criticizing this law because it allegedly limits the right to vote.

One of its main critics has been President Joe Biden, who last Tuesday again questioned the legislation and showed his support for the Georgia business boycott and for the businesses that have decided to speak out against the law signed by Governor Brian Kemp.

The controversy surrounding the new electoral law is gigantic and has transcended the reduced Georgian political spaces to become a national debate and, in addition, touch economic areas. Several companies have started a kind of boycott against the authorities of the state of Georgia, in protest against the law. For example, Coca-Cola, J.P. Morgan, and Delta spoke out against the new legislation.

But none of that beats Major League Baseball (MLB), which, to show its disagreement with the law, announced that the All-Star Game would be moved from Atlanta to Denver.

Biden approves the Georgia business boycott

In addition to businesses, liberal media, and social activists, on several occasions the president expressed his disagreement with the new law, calling it “sick” and contrary to American values. He even falsely claimed that the new legislation restricts voting hours to the detriment of workers.

Fact-checkers at The Washington Post gave Biden’s claims “Four Pinocchios” – the worst rating – labeling them false.

Georgia business boycott - mlb - biden
Biden walking after an official announcement. (EFE)

His rather radical stance led him as president to back companies that led a Georgia business boycott as a rebellion, and he urged the state “to do better” to stop the Georgia business boycott. “It is reassuring to see that for-profit operations and businesses are speaking up about how these new Jim Crow laws that are just antithetical to who we are,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday.

At the same time, Biden sought to emphasize that the decisions are not entirely positive because they hurt those most in need, but that was no deterrent to backing companies commercially boycotting the state.  “I think it’s a very tough decision for a corporation to make or group to make, I respect them when they make that judgment, I support whatever judgment they make.  The best way to deal with this is for Georgia and other states to smarten up. Stop it, stop it.”

Biden, stating his position against the new election law, commented to ESPN sports network that the behavior of the baseball players who lobbied MLB to move the Georgia All-Star Game was “exemplary.”

“I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that,” (…) People look to them. They’re leaders. The very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports.

The president’s radicalism on the new election law is evident when comparing his position to that of Stacey Abrams, one of the most radical Democrats in the country. While Biden supported MLB in moving the game, Abrams criticized the major leagues for hurting Atlanta, one of the most Democratic cities in the entire country, and its workers.

Republicans respond

In the other corner of the ring, Republicans are accusing Democrats and the mainstream media in general of unfairly politicizing the debate over the new election law. Georgia Republican officials argue that the law does not suppress the vote, but, on the contrary, expands the right to vote by establishing clearer and more secure election rules.

Brian Kemp, Biden, empresas, nueva ley electoral Georgia
Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who signed Georgia’s election law, at a press conference. (EFE)

For example, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – who many will remember for having challenged former President Donald Trump when he claimed that there was massive voter fraud in Georgia – published an article in National Review where he thoroughly analyzed the legislation. There, Raffensperger explained that it does not attempt to suppress the right to vote and that it only contains common sense measures, after all the controversy over the previous 2020 presidential election.

“What is most incredible about what has happened over the past week in Georgia is the speed with which liberal politicians and their allies went from condemning election disinformation to wholeheartedly spreading it. If we were not so used to the hypocrisy, it might have given us whiplash,” Raffensperger said.

Another Republican who criticized the news treatment surrounding new election law was Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who condemned the work of the press via his Twitter account, “The media had a responsibility to go behind the political rhetoric about the Georgia voting law and provide analysis & truth. Instead, most spread partisan disinformation and inflamed passions & division, further blurring the line between social media & a responsible free press..”

Georgia authorities have faced criticism from all sides over the new election law. The controversy, which was politicized by the media, affected the state economically and hurt its entire population in the midst of a pandemic crisis. The legislation exposes the political polarization at the national level.

Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.

Contacto: [email protected]

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