Table of Content
- Bernie Marcus has contributed to Trump's campaigns, but he is no longer the CEO or chairman of the home improvement chain.
- Virginia State Sen. McClellan Wins Democratic Nomination To Fill Late Rep. McEachin's Seat
- Home Depot distances itself from Trump-supporting co-founder after calls for boycott
- Rep. Suzan DelBene Is House Democrats' New No-Drama Campaign Chief
- A meme comparing political involvement of the home improvement chains left out some context.
Langone is a prolific donor to GOP candidates — he and his wife, Elaine, made nearly $517,000 in political contributions over the last two years, $496,500 of which went to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. "Y'all should put out a public statement specifically denouncing Bernie Marcus's support of Herschel Walker, ASAP," tweeted Ben McKee, the bassist for pop rock band Imagine Dragons. "Anything less really looks like y'all are not in opposition to Bernie's/Herschel's hurtful and damaging actions against women and the LGBTQIA+ community." Jacoby promised to "boost accounts" on Twitter that promised to boycott the company.
In the 2022 cycle the Boeing Company Pac contributed $418,000 to support Republican candidates who had been vocal in forwarding lies questioning the validity of the 2020 presidential election. At the top of the list of 20 corporations backing election deniers through their political action committees is a familiar name in the world of rightwing agitating – Koch Industries. According to the Accountable.US review, the Koch energy conglomerate spent $771,000 through its Pac on Republican candidates with a track record of casting doubt on elections. In a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Marcus said that after he dies he will give between 80 to 90% of his estimated $5.9 billion fortune to various charitable causes. But, as highlighted by Business Insider, in the meantime, some of his money will also go to political causes and candidates, including President Trump’s re-election campaign.
Bernie Marcus has contributed to Trump's campaigns, but he is no longer the CEO or chairman of the home improvement chain.
Walker, a Georgia Republican and former NFL star who is facing Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock, has been behind in the polls a month before the midterm elections in November amid a report in The Daily Beast alleging he paid for his former girlfriend's abortion in 2009. Bernie Marcus was a co-founder of Home Depot home improvement chain, and he did serve as the company's first CEO, as well as its chairman of the board, for 19 years. However, he retired from both those positions in 2002 and is no longer actively involved in running the company.
Home Depot spokeswoman Margaret Smith said in a statement to NPR that Marcus retired more than a decade ago and is not speaking on behalf of the company. "In fact, as a standard practice, the company does not endorse Presidential candidates," she said. Home Depot Responds To Calls For Boycott Over Co-Founder's Support For Trump Bernie Marcus said he was backing Trump's 2020 presidential bid, prompting a backlash against the home improvement giant.
Virginia State Sen. McClellan Wins Democratic Nomination To Fill Late Rep. McEachin's Seat
Marcus said his giving to philanthropic causes far outweighs his political donations. After he dies, he's arranged for 80% to 90% of his fortune to go to his charitable foundation, the Marcus Foundation. "Everything I live for now is finding the right things to put my money into and that can give me a rate of return in emotion and doing good things for this world," he told the AJC. Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus said in a new interview that he plans to give away most of his fortune, which is estimated to be worth roughly $4.53 billion. “I feel those people who sought to stop the process were ill-advised,” he added. Data compiled by Open Secrets, a nonprofit campaign finance transparency group, which analyzes public FEC records.
"I live very well. My kids are taken care of. Everything I live for now is finding the right things to put my money into and that can give me a rate of return in emotion and doing good things for this world." The 90-year-old businessman said he has already given away $2 billion of his wealth to 300 organizations. The Home Depot Foundation's annual Operation Surprise initiative aims to provide life-changing moments of surprise through service to our nation's veterans. From Veterans Day through December, Team Depot will complete hundreds of service projects in honor of Veterans Day, providing moments of surprise along the way. Navy veteran, Crystal Sellers enrolled in Mary Hall Freedom Village's homeless veterans' reintegration program for female veterans and their children. While the journey hasn't been easy, Crystal is making tremendous strides on her road to recovery from alcohol abuse and credits much of her success to the partnership between The Home Depot Foundation and Mary Hall Freedom Village.
Home Depot distances itself from Trump-supporting co-founder after calls for boycott
But, as conservatives have pointed out, there are a few logical inconsistencies in the boycott movement. Marcus, who co-founded The Home Depot in Georgia with Arthur Blank, has a history of supporting conservative political candidates. A Fox News article in 2019 said Marcus announced he would support former President Donald Trump in his 2020 re-election campaign. The 90-year-old billionaire reportedly donated to Trump's 2016 campaign, as well. "Bernie retired from The Home Depot about 20 years ago and does not speak on behalf of the company," a Home Depot spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement.

That spokesperson said Home Depot is also one of the largest donors to members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, a gathering of centrist lawmakers. Home Depot's recent ESG report notes diversity alliances with groups the Congressional Black Caucus foundation and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. The report’s eight chapters of findings tell the story largely as the panel’s hearings did this summer — describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden’s victory. The lawmakers describe his pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.
Marcus told the publication disagreed with some of Trump's politics, but liked his "businessman's common-sense approach." The billionaire and philanthropist recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he helped fund Trump's 2016 campaign, and planned on doing so again. Among the individual candidates whose bid for federal office was supported by top corporations was Derrick Van Orden, who won a close race to represent a swing district in Wisconsin with backing from Koch Industries.

"In fact, as a standard practice, the company does not endorse Presidential candidates." Scott Perry received support from the Kochs, AT&T, Boeing and other corporations in his successful campaign to hold onto his House seat in Pennsylvania. Perry was deeply involved in attempts to block Biden’s victory in 2020, and in the weeks after January 6 sought a presidential pardon from Trump.
Both Home Depot and Lowe's are the two biggest home improvement companies in the United States of America and does attract the same customer base looking for similar products. The two have been long-time rivals in the segment with Home Depot leading the race by being the number one home improvement retailer in the United States and Lowe's coming in at the second position. Now, a number of tweets and posts on social media started criticizing Home Depot for donating money to Donald Trump while Lowe's has donated $25 million towards the reopening of minority-owned small businesses and also towards COVID-19 relief. Own political action committee has donated to the National Republican Senatorial Committee this cycle, the company said in a statement that it has not contributed directly to Walker’s campaign. Home Depot became the new leader through the end of February thanks to a surge of $140,000 last month alone.

Neither company promised to stop the donations, though Boeing encouraged lawmakers “to work with President-elect Biden to unify our nation” on Jan. 7, 2021. Home Depot’s political action committee has donated almost $2.125 million to candidates this election cycle with candidates of both parties receiving money, according to Federal Elections Commission data. The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee is expected to release his tax returns after he has fought for years to keep them private.
The report alleges that Trump acted illegally when he took part in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in the attack on the Capitol. He has instructed the foundation to donate that money to causes such as medical discoveries and treatments for autistic children and veterans, Kempner writes. The Home Depot PAC, have donated directly to Walker’s campaign or related PACs set up to exclusively support his campaign. A spokesperson from The Home Depot told Newsweek in a statement that Marcus' views do not represent the company.

Some of the best-known corporations in the US, including AT&T, Boeing, Delta Air Lines and the Home Depot, collectively poured more than $8m into supporting election deniers running for US House and Senate seats in this month’s midterm elections. "Done. Needed a new washer and dryer. I went to Lowe's!" Twitter user Vicky L. Nelson tweeted in support of the boycott campaign while promoting Home Depot's chief competitor. American Bankers Association PAC was listed as the second largest donor in the Accountable.US report, having donated $327,500, followed by the Boeing aerospace company and the National Beer Wholesalers Association Political Action Committee. Marcus has donated $2 billion to philanthropic causes during his lifetime, reported the AJC, and on his death some 80% to 90% of his estimated $5.9 billion fortune will be used for similar ends. Since retiring from Home Depot in 2002, Marcus has become more involved in politics, donating millions to the Republican Party.
Commenting on the race on Monday, one Twitter user called for people to boycott Home Depot. A critic of abortion, Walker has denied the allegations and said he plans to sue the publication. Walker has received sharp criticism from his son, Christian Walker, on Twitter.
Bernie Marcus has contributed to Trump's campaigns, but he is no longer the CEO or chairman of the home improvement chain. A meme comparing political involvement of the home improvement chains left out some context. His backing of Trump has divided people on Twitter over the last week, where some people have demanded a boycott of the store and others have sprung to its defense.