{"id":2320944,"date":"2024-08-08T05:36:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T09:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-worried-about-corporate-power-he-still-took-their-checks-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-08T05:40:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T09:40:58","slug":"tim-walz-worried-about-corporate-power-he-still-took-their-checks-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-walz-worried-about-corporate-power-he-still-took-their-checks-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Walz worried about corporate power. He still took their checks &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftim-walz-worried-about-corporate-power-he-still-took-their-checks-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2320944&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Tim Walz, the current Governor of Minnesota and\u2064 Democratic vice presidential running \u2064mate to Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections. It highlights a \u2064contradiction in Walz&#8217;s political stance: while\u2064 he has \u2064criticized corporate influence in \u200bpolitics and expressed \u2063concern about corporate power\u2064 during his time in Congress, he has also\u200b accepted significant campaign donations from corporate PACs. When serving \u200bas\u2064 a \u200bU.S. representative \u200bfrom \u200b2007 to 2019, he received over $1.7 million from\u2062 various political action committees, including those funded by major corporations.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his past advocacy against corporate donations and his \u2062support for reversing\u200b the \u20632010\u2064 Citizens United decision\u2014which permits unlimited corporate spending in elections\u2014Walz&#8217;s \u200cacceptance of corporate contributions raises potential accusations of hypocrisy from his opponents. As\u200d he campaigns alongside Harris, he has faced criticism for this inconsistency, especially as he continues \u2064to align with corporate\u200c interests while promoting \u2064a \u200dprogressive \u2063agenda. Meanwhile, in the backdrop of his campaign, numerous Silicon Valley investors have \u200brallied in support of Harris \u2064and Walz, pledging their \u200dfinancial backing. The article points to this\u2062 as a significant development in the context of\u2064 their candidacy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Tim Walz worried about corporate power. He still took their checks<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1724627\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>During his time in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Congress<\/a>, then-Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-walz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Tim Walz\">Tim Walz<\/a> (D-MN) raised concerns about corporate power and accused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Republicans<\/a> of boosting special interests. That didn&rsquo;t stop Walz, now Minnesota&rsquo;s governor and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-says-he-plans-to-run-for-re-election-in-2024\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Says He Plans To Run For Re-Election In 2024\">2024 running mate<\/a> of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, from accepting large checks from corporations.<\/p>\n<p>Walz, as he represented Minnesota&rsquo;s 1st Congressional District from 2007 to 2019, raked in over $1.7 million from political action committees, including those funded by corporations and corporate PACs themselves, campaign finance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?data_type=processed&amp;committee_id=C00409409&amp;committee_id=C00475608&amp;contributor_name=PAC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>records<\/a> show. The vice presidential nominee recently chaired the Democratic Governors Association, which pockets donations from corporations such as CVS Health, Walmart, Comcast, and Coca-Cola, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/527s\/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?cycle=2024&amp;ein=521304889\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according<\/a> to OpenSecrets. <\/p>\n<p>Walz&rsquo;s willingness to take the corporate donations will likely open the Democrat up to hypocrisy accusations from Republicans as he runs on the 2024 ticket with Harris, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: &#039;Pipeline&#039; to Obama Admin Seen as &#039;Currency&#039;\">vice president<\/a>. A progressive who has <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepTimWalz\/status\/1011664344793350144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>slammed<\/a> the GOP for putting &ldquo;millionaires, billionaires and corporations over working-class Americans,&rdquo; Walz took aim in a Tuesday speech at Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the running mate of former President Donald Trump, for having &ldquo;his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Silicon Valley leaders, however, are lining up to support Harris and Walz, <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/silicon-valley-leaders-kamala-harris\/story?id=112381644\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according<\/a> to multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.capradio.org\/articles\/2024\/08\/05\/tech-luminaries-and-vcs-go-all-in-on-kamala-harris-campaign-5-things-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reports<\/a>. More than 100 venture capitalists pledged last week to vote for Harris and declared they had solicited donations for the Harris campaign, the <em>New York Times<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/31\/technology\/silicon-valley-investors-support-kamala-harris.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a>. The cohort of investors included LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former principal Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Silicon Valley &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harris-rakes-in-significant-support-from-group-of-venture-capitalists-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Harris rakes in significant support from group of venture capitalists - Washington Examiner\">super angel&#038;rdquo<\/a>; investor Ron Conway, and Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In this pivotal moment, we are united in our support for Vice President Kamala Harris,&rdquo; the investors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vcsforkamala.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> in a joint statement. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Democratic vice presidential running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) on July 3, 2024, left, and Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 9, 2024, right. Walz has long accepted donations from corporations despite criticizing corporate influence. (AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Walz, in supporting a congressional amendment to reverse the landmark 2010 <em>Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission<\/em> Supreme Court decision, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepTimWalz\/status\/848703309443674112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>insisted<\/a> in 2017 that &ldquo;corporations are not people [and] money is not speech.&rdquo; He frequently posted on social media that year about his criticism of the decision, which held that the First Amendment prohibits government restrictions on certain outside spending in elections. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Ours is a #DemocracyForAll the People, not just for the millionaires, billionaires and corporations,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepTimWalz\/status\/875786064388075523\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>posted<\/a> on social media in June 2017. &ldquo;Time to overturn #CitizensUnited!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?c5127353\/user-clip-tim-walz-tax-cuts-jobs-act-affect-military-families\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>hearing<\/a> months later that Republicans were prioritizing the interests of &ldquo;corporations and the ultra-wealthy over the middle class.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>That same year, in 2017, Walz received campaign donations from Walmart, Land O&rsquo;Lakes, Oracle&rsquo;s Cerner Corporation, and other corporate-affiliated PACs. And throughout his time in Congress, corporate cash flowed into Walz&rsquo;s campaign coffers from the likes of General Mills, Honeywell International, Pfizer, UnitedHealth Group, Deloitte, Comcast, Xcel Energy, and Exxon Mobil, records show.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Walz shares close ties to the lobbying world. The Minnesota Democrat, <em>Politico<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/politico-influence\/2024\/08\/06\/a-look-at-walzs-ties-to-k-street-00172930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> this week, &ldquo;has a smattering of former staffers and colleagues around K Street from his seven terms in the House &mdash; many of whom would surely be sought after in a Harris administration.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>One former staffer, Walz&rsquo;s ex-deputy chief of staff and legislative director, Jeremy Bratt, runs a firm that works on behalf of Walz&rsquo;s gubernatorial office, the outlet reported. Another ex-Walz aide, Brendon Gehrke, is now government affairs director at defense contractor Leidos.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to Minnesota campaign finance records, Walz&rsquo;s gubernatorial committee took over $46,000 last year from lobbyists. Between 2018 and 2021, his campaign in the Gopher State was on the receiving end of $370,600 from lobbyists, a <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> analysis found. <\/p>\n<p>Spokespeople for Walz and Harris did not reply to requests for comment. <\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1724627\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1724627\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Walz expressed concerns about corporate influence during his tenure in Congress, where he criticized Republicans for supporting special interests. However, as the current governor of Minnesota and the 2024 vice presidential candidate alongside Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, he accepted significant donations from corporations. While serving Minnesota&#8217;s 1st Congressional District from 2007 to 2019, Walz received over $1.7 million from political action committees, including those backed by corporations and corporate PACs. Recently, as chair of the Democratic Governors Association, he has also accepted contributions from major companies like CVS Health, Walmart, Comcast, and Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n<p>Walz&#8217;s acceptance of corporate funds may lead to accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans as he campaigns with Harris in 2024. Despite being a progressive who has criticized the GOP for prioritizing &#8220;millionaires, billionaires and corporations&#8221; over working-class Americans\u2014targeting figures like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) for his funding sources\u2014Walz is now receiving support from Silicon Valley leaders who have pledged their backing for him and Harris.<\/p>\n<p>In past statements supporting a congressional amendment to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling\u2014which allows unrestricted outside spending in elections\u2014Walz emphasized that &#8220;corporations are not people [and] money is not speech.&#8221; He frequently voiced his opposition to this decision on social media in 2017 while simultaneously accepting campaign contributions from various corporations such as Walmart and Oracle\u2019s Cerner Corporation.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his congressional career, Walz garnered financial support from numerous companies including General Mills and Pfizer while maintaining connections within lobbying circles; several former staffers now work on K Street or with lobbying firms that represent interests aligned with Walz\u2019s gubernatorial office.<\/p>\n<p>Despite requests for comments going unanswered by representatives for both Walz and Harris regarding these issues surrounding corporate donations and influence in politics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2320945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tim_Walz_881.98.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[33926,37503,37504,36113,32076],"class_list":["post-2320944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-campaign-finance","tag-corporate-power","tag-political-integrity","tag-tim-walz","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tim_Walz_881.98.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2320944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2320945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2320944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2320944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2320944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}