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Ron DeSantis is joining with 18 other red states to fight against corporate virtue-signaling and ‘woke-ness’, which has come to be known as environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG).
Denounced by DeSantis and other right-leaning politicians, the acronym ESG is a favorite Republican buzz word to rail against companies and organizations for using their power in the business and financial world to push an agenda – usually a progressive one.
The 19 governors signed a joint statement declaring: ‘Yet again, President Biden put his political agenda above the wellbeing and individual freedoms of hardworking Americans.’
Dubbing themselves as ‘freedom loving states’, the governors are pledging to use pension funds in their respective states to force corporations to maximize shareholder value instead of pushing ‘woke ideology.’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins 18 other Republican governors leading an effort to crack-down on ‘woke’ ESG investing from corporations and protect their citizens’ pension funds
The governors released a joint statement on the effort on Thursday after Biden said he would oppose Congress’ efforts to keep politics out of retirement funds
Besides Florida, the other states involved in the effort are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Many who signed on with DeSantis are past Trump stalwarts, including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as the former president’s White House press secretary but declined to publicly endorse his 2024 bid when asked in a phone call, according to reports.
In an op-ed, DeSantis explained that ESG is usually only employed for a few reasons – if those working at the top of corporations want to push their agenda or one that would benefit them, or are giving into the will of workers that want their employer to reflect their values.
In his new book The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, the potential 2024 presidential candidate called for ‘crippling the ESG movement.’
Desantis is seen as one of the biggest fighters against ESG considering his ‘war with Disney.’
The governor said that he was warned not to take on the powerful company in Florida, but went head-first into a war with Walt Disney World after the CEO-at-the-time released a statement opposing his laws that gave parents more power in their children’s education.
‘The proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy,’ the joint statement from DeSantis and the 18 other governors notes.
Among those who signed on to support the initiative are former Trump White House press secretary and current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (left) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (right)
DeSantis’ press release on the effort notes that ESG was ‘destabilizing the American economy and the global financial system.’
Congress passed legislation to try and keep politics out of Americans’ retirement funds, which Biden has openly opposed.
‘President Biden threatened to veto this measure, which puts the pensions of thousands of hardworking Americans at risk to the radical environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) movement, rather than prioritizing investment decisions on the highest rate of return,’ the joint statement notes.
They added: ‘Retirees, already suffering from the reckless fiscal policies of the Biden Administration, will continue to experience diminished returns on the investment of their hard-earned money while the corporate elite continue to use their economic power to impose policies on the country that they could not achieve at the ballot box.’
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