Governor Kemp responded to the call for protest on Tuesday afternoon, saying the “madness must stop”.
ATLANTA – An outspoken group of religious leaders in Georgia are calling for a boycott of The Home Depot, as they announced on Tuesday. It is the first formal boycott called after weeks of engagement and discussion, they said.
The group, which represents more than 1,000 churches across the state, said the boycott was due to the controversial electoral law that Governor Brian Kemp signed last month.
In an effort to create dialogue, a united coalition of faith leaders was in constant communication with business leaders across the state last month, “hoping to shed some light on the real facts and implications of this new law.” they said in a statement. They said the results “haven’t seen corporate activism in decades”.
RELATED: Georgia Corporations Respond to New Electoral Law Signed by Governor Kemp as Boycott Demand Raises
They initially called for a nationwide boycott of large companies, but when talks began with corporate executives from across the state, they put it on hold when Coca-Cola officials initiated a virtual meeting with everyone.
The group that organized the boycott said Atlanta-based The Home Depot “decided not to attend the meeting, ignored a number of follow-up requests and did not speak publicly about the new law.”
Governor Kemp called a press conference less than an hour after the phone call in which his office said “will highlight his opposition to the Home Depot boycott and support for jobs in Georgia”.
The left doesn’t care about jobs in Georgia.
Here are the facts about who employs @homedepot in Georgia:
27,000 employees
Stores 90 stores
🏗 15 distribution centers
– Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) April 20, 2021
“This madness has to stop. The people who are driving this forward and benefiting from it, like Stacey Abrams and others, are now trying to do it both ways,” said Kemp. “There’s a political agenda here, and everything goes back to Washington DC.”
Kemp went on to say that there is a lot of misinformation about the law. He said he conducted more than 70 interviews and was open and honest with the law.
He said he will continue to stand up and fight for Georgia-based companies.
“This is about what’s right and what’s wrong,” he said. “For them (Home Depot) it is honestly difficult to understand being targeted by this organization and by these people.”
11Alive reached out to The Home Depot for a statement, and they said they “decided that the most appropriate approach for us is to continue to underline our statement that all elections will be accessible, fair and safe and one Should support broad voter turnout, keep working to ensure that our staff in Georgia and across the country have the information and resources to vote. “
RELATED: Delta CEO Says Georgia New Electoral Law “Based On A Lie”, Calling Final Bill “Unacceptable”.
Faith-based leaders including AME Bishop Reginald Jackson; Rev. Timothy McDonald, III, Senior Pastor, First Iconium Baptist Church, Founder of the African American Ministers Leadership Council and President of the African American Ministers In Action by People for the American Way; Dr. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church; Rev. Lee May, senior pastor, Transforming Faith Church; and other faith-based leaders across Georgia gathered at noon on Tuesday to officially announce the boycott.
In a statement, Jackson said the group had not sought assistance from any political leaders or elected officials. He added that Chick-fil-A and Arby’s could be the next companies to call for a boycott “depending on whether or how they react”.
According to Kemp’s office, The Home Depot employs nearly 30,000 Georgians who work in Peach State’s 90 stores and 15 distribution centers.
RELATED: Georgia Electoral Law Explains: Here’s What the Law Does, Doesn’t Do
- Requires an ID number such as a driver’s license to request a postal vote
- Complete requests for absentee ballots 11 days before an election
- Limits the number of postal ballot papers
- Allows the state to take control of what it calls “subpar” local electoral systems
- Prohibits volunteers from giving away food and drink to queuing voters
Republicans said the state election law was overdue for a revision, regardless of the 2020 election, which saw the party suffer significant losses.
Major League Baseball pulled the all-star game out of Truist Park in Cobb County because of the electoral law after the first calls to boycott the state were made. Actor and director Will Smith also announced that he would withdraw his film “Emancipation” from the state in protest against the law. It was the first big movie that took such a step.
