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- Toyota said it would stop donating to Republicans who had objected to Joe Biden's certification.
- The automaker's PAC had given tens of thousands of dollars to these lawmakers since January.
- In an ad this week, the Lincoln Project targeted Toyota for donating to the objectors.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Toyota said Thursday it would stop donating to Republicans who objected to Joe Biden's certification as president, after the automaker came under fire from watchdogs and activists for giving tens of thousands of dollars to these lawmakers.
The company was the target of an advert from anti-Donald Trump campaign group the Lincoln Project on Thursday, which said that the automaker had given "more money than any company to the seditious politicians who voted to overturn the 2020 election result."
The Lincoln Project shared a statement from Toyota after the ad's publication, which said that its PAC's decision to donate to the objectors had "troubled some stakeholders."
"At this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those Members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election," its statement read.
The left-leaning watchdog Citizens for Ethics said in July that Toyota's PAC had donated $56,000 total to 38 GOP objectors since January, making it the biggest donor to the individual objectors and their leadership PACs – while Popular Information said that the company's PAC has donated $62,000 to 40 lawmakers.
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Federal Election Commission filings show that, among others, Toyota donated $5,000 to Michigan Rep. Jack Bergman and $3,500 to Arizona Rep. David Schweikert.
"Toyota's number one at finding ways to financially reward the very party that took our nation to the brink on January 6," the narrator said in the Lincoln Project's ad.
-The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 8, 2021
"If [Toyota's executives] don't reconsider where they send their money, Americans will reconsider where we send ours," they added. Comcast refused to air the ad, the Lincoln Project said.
-The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 8, 2021
After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 to try and prevent Congress from certifying Biden's win, many top US companies scrambled to cut ties with the 147 GOP lawmakers who voted against the results.
Dozens of companies, including Walmart, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, and AT&T, said they would stop donating to these specific lawmakers, and Hallmark even asked two senators to return its donations.
Other companies, including Microsoft, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs, said they would instead pause all political donations to both Republicans and Democrats..
The vast majority of corporations who pledged to stop funding these GOP lawmakers have stayed true to their word. Some companies who made vaguer promises about assessing PAC criteria have restarted donations, while others gave money instead to various Republican committees that, in turn, fund these lawmakers.
Toyota did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. A Toyota spokesperson told Insider in May that the company "supports candidates based on their position on issues that are important to the auto industry and the company."
"We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification," the spokesperson said at the time. "Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions." The spokesperson did not say who those members were.