Toyota Motor’s political action committee will stop donations to U.S. members of Congress who had voted against US President Joe Biden’s election certification in January, the automaker said on Thursday.
“We are actively hearing to our stakeholders and, at this time, have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election,” the automaker said.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported on June 23 that the automaker made $56,000 in total donations to 38 of the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against Biden’s electoral certification and said it was the most any company made a direct contribution to lawmakers who were opposed to certification.
That disclosure resulted in criticism of Toyota, which had defended the donations before.
A Toyota spokesman did not mention how long they will avoid the contribution.
The automaker noted its political action committee’s support for both Republicans and Democrats is equal and added the automaker has long-standing relationships with Members of Congress across the political spectrum, those representing our U.S. operations in general.
