Georgia leaders representing more than 1,000 churches in the state encouraged leftists to boycott Home Depot, arguing the company didn’t denounce Georgia’s new election-integrity law in strong enough terms.
“A boycott is not something we wanted to do, but now it is something that we must do,” Bishop Reginald Jackson said in a statement on Tuesday. “They have simply refused to respond, not only to our request to meet, but to their other corporate partners.”
Several other Georgia-based companies, including Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola, initially caved to the pressure, although some woke CEOs have since sought to backtrack amid calls for conservative boycotts.
Major League Baseball also faced harsh backlash for its decision to pull the summer All-Star Game from Atlanta, while even Democrat leaders sent mixed messages amid concern that boycotts of the state would harm lower-income black workers disproportionately.
Home Depot released a statement earlier this month saying it was committed to fighting for laws that ensure “accessible, fair, and secure elections” but wanted to stay neutral in the political fight over the bill.
“They believe their silence is appropriate, but not on the issue of voting rights,” Jackson said. “Blacks and people of color, like others, are also their customers and they benefit from our dollars … we believe they should oppose any effort to suppress our votes.”
For the boycott to end, the Georgia leaders demanded that Home Depot speak out publicly against Georgia’s election integrity law and against any other “restrictive” voting provisions in other states.
The activists also demanded that the company support federal legislation to prevents states from passing election security measures, and that it support any other efforts—including litigation—to stop Georgia’s election law from taking effect.
Home Depot has not responded to the demands, but Republican Gov. Brian Kemp slammed the demands as “insanity.”
“They [Home Depot] did not ask to be in this political fight, it’s unfair to them, to their families and their livelihoods to be targeted,” Kemp said on Tuesday. “The insanity needs to stop.”
The left doesn’t care about Georgia jobs.
Here are the facts about who @homedepot employs in Georgia:
??♀️ 27,000 associates
? 90 stores
? 15 distribution centers— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) April 20, 2021