It’s no secret that the 2024 presidential election has been nothing short of chaotic, from an assassination attempt to historic withdrawals from the race and the rapid ascent of a new candidate.
In amongst all the chaos, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’ race to the White House has also been defined by their respective endorsements. The latter candidate was rallied around by the Democratic party following Joe Biden’s exit and received endorsements from the likes of Michelle and Barack Obama.
For his part, Trump has recently been endorsed by former Independent contender RFK Jr., as well as celebrities like Hulk Hogan and Amber Rose. One group whose endorsement of Trump has been called into question is the CEOs of the Fortune 100, a list of the top 100 public and private companies in the United States.
A recent viral post on X has claimed that a total of zero CEOs in the Fortune 100 have supported Trump in the 2024 election cycle, but how true are those claims?
Is it true that not one Fortune 100 CEO is supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 election?
According to multiple sources, the viral post on X about Fortune 100’s support of Donald Trump is true. The post seems to be referencing older reports from earlier this year, which revealed that none of the CEOs of the companies listed in the Fortune 100 have donated to Trump’s 2024 election campaign.
The statistic was outlined by Yale School of Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnefeld, who collated the numbers for Fortune Magazine itself. The result is especially surprising given that the group is historically Republican-friendly — and is comprised roughly of two-thirds registered Republicans — with George W. Bush receiving donations from 42 CEOs listed on the Fortune 100 during his bid for the presidency in 2004.
Trump’s complete lack of support from the Fortune 100 is not without precedent. While he recived donations from two of the CEOs during his 2020 run for president, none were given for his race against Hillary Clinton in 2016. According to Sonnefeld, this is evidence of Trump having the “lowest level of corporate support” in the Republican Party’s history among the Fortune 100 CEOs.
Going a step further, Sonnefeld noted that many of the CEOs who comprise the list “despise” Trump’s social and fiscal policies, even though the former president has held talks with the heads of companies like PepsiCo, Ford, UPS, Verizon, and IBM. News of the lack of donations for Trump among the Fortune 100 came as multiple media outlets reported that he had earned the support of major CEOs, with Sonnefeld’s finding pointing to the contrary.
Beyond the world of business, Trump has also endured a lack of support from members of his own political party. Mike Pence, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and John Giles are among the high-profile Republicans who have pledged to vote against Trump in the upcoming election.
Published: Sep 10, 2024 04:02 am