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Major corporations bankroll "America First" propaganda
Mastercard, Deloitte, and ExxonMobil are spending millions to promote events supporting Trump and his divisive political agenda.
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Major corporations — including Mastercard, Deloitte, and ExxonMobil — are spending millions to promote President Trump and some of his most divisive policy initiatives. The corporations are sponsoring Freedom 250, which bills itself as a “non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.” But internal documents obtained by Popular Information reveal that Freedom 250 is bankrolling events promoting Trump and his political agenda.
Corporations pay between $500,000 and $10 million to become a Freedom 250 sponsor. Those who donate $1 million or more get invited to a private reception with Trump. For $2.5 million or more, sponsors receive a speaking role at the 4th of July celebration in Washington, D.C. The benefits for sponsors were first reported by the New York Times.
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Freedom 250 will purportedly use the money to host events across the country celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday. But an “Events Toolkit” produced by Freedom 250 and labeled “DRAFT DELIBERATIVE NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION” reveals the events will actually promote pro-Trump political talking points.
For example, a “Talking Points & Messaging Guide” suggests partner organizations feature “issue-based messaging.” One featured message: “President Trump and America First leaders are restoring election integrity and protecting the voice of every legal citizen.” The idea that election integrity needs to be “restored” is based on the conspiracy theory, promoted by Trump, that the 2020 election was stolen. It also promotes the falsehood that “legal citizen” votes are being diluted by ineligible voters.
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The “Events Toolkit” also instructs organizational partners that the “CORE THEME TO ELEVATE” is “President Trump’s Freedom250 Vision.” This entails praising specific executive orders issued by Trump, including “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
That order, which was signed last March, has resulted in “the removal of signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks.” New brochures at the former home of Medgar Evers, who was murdered by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, will no longer refer to Evers’ killer as “racist.” In other cases, signs “referring to the forced removal of Native Americans“ were removed from parks.
Freedom 250 is now telling partner organizations to say that this kind of historical erasure is “uniting Americans across the country.”
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Other “talking points” explicitly call on partner organizations to align themselves with Trump’s political project: “[W]e’re proud to stand with the America First movement.”
The document also calls on partner organizations to use Freedom 250 events to mobilize “America First” voters, urging them to pair rallies for “election integrity” and “parental rights” with “voter registration booths.”