As the LGBTQIA+ community has been targeted by Republican lawmakers, an unlikely force has come to their aid: giant corporations. Both Disney and Apple have tried to fight new laws, in Florida, Texas, and elsewhere, that demonize queer and trans people. And that’s made Republicans mad — so mad that some of them have been issuing threats that sound suspiciously progressive.
On Friday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham took some time off from spouting pro-Russia talking points to condemn Disney and Apple for being against laws that target already marginalized people.
“These businesses should really learn this lesson now before it’s too late: Stay in your lane,” bellowed Ingraham. “Because if they want to talk about what they know nothing about, expect to be treated like any lame political pundit, on, let’s say, MSNBC.”
Ingraham: When Republicans get back into power, Apple and Disney have to understand one thing: Everything will be on the table, your copyright/trademark protection, your special status in certain states, and even your corporate structure itself… pic.twitter.com/7kKhPH07Rs
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 2, 2022
She then issued some veiled threats. “You guys have products and services that 74 million Trump voters don’t need to purchase if they don’t want to,” she said. “And when Republicans get back into power, Apple and Disney need to understand one thing: Everything will be on the table–your copyright and trademark protection, your special status within certain states, and even your corporate structure itself.”
If it was unclear that she was talking about antitrust laws, which exist to break up companies that get too large, and which these days are rarely used, she then made that unambiguous: “The antitrust division at [the Department of] Justice needs to begin the process of considering which American companies need to be broken up once and for all for competition’s sake, and ultimately for the good of the consumers who pay the bills.”
That’s right: One of the most popular figures on a deeply conservative news network is effectively saying government should curtail the free market and rein in out-of-control capitalism, targeting a corporation because it owns too much profitable stuff. Already strange times just got stranger still.
(Via The Daily Beast)