Delta cancels over 100 flights after Trump call Republicans to boycott companies amid Georgia voting law controversy

Trump call to boycott Delta Airlines

About 100 Delta Air Lines flights were canceled on Sunday. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience, and the majority have been rebooked for the same travel day,” the airline said in a statement Sunday.

The numbers are rising heading into the crucial summer vacation season. Last summer was a catastrophe for the airlines, contributing to Delta’s full-year loss of more than $12 billion. The airlines are eager to boost revenue as quickly as possible, and that means selling more seats.

Delta said it had over 1 million passengers during the past few days, the highest number since before the coronavirus pandemic began last year.

Former President Trump on Saturday called for Republicans and conservatives to boycott a sweeping number of companies amid controversy surrounding new voting laws. 

In a statement released late Saturday evening, the former president took aim at Democrats for playing "dirty" and boycotting companies that "in any way" offend them.

"For years the Radical Left Democrats have played dirty by boycotting products when anything from that company is done or stated in any way that offends them. Now they are going big time with the WOKE CANCEL CULTURE and our sacred elections," Trump said in a statement on Saturday released by Save America PAC.

He then called for Republicans to "fight back," alleging that "we have more people than they do," and urged conservatives to boycott specific companies including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines and Citigroup. 

"It is finally time for Republicans and Conservatives to fight back— we have more people than they do— by far! Boycott Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS and Merck. Don’t go back to their products until they relent. We can play a better game than them," he said.  

The call comes as companies have publicly condemned Georgia law SB 202 and other voting legislation proposed in states throughout the U.S. 

Many Republicans have supported these efforts after Trump and his allies alleged that widespread voter fraud tainted the 2020 election amid the pandemic, when mail-in ballots were widely used. However, these claims have been disputed by federal and state elections officials. 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed SB 202 into law last month.

MLB this week moved the All-Star Game out of Georgia in protest of the law, the furthest action a company has taken against it.

Trump directly called for a boycott of MLB hours after the move was announced.

Among its restrictions, SB 202 limits the use of ballot drop boxes and imposes new photo ID requirements for absentee voting. It also prohibits handing out food and water to people within 150 feet of a polling site, including to those waiting in line to vote.  

Democrats and critics of the law say it amounts to voter suppression, particularly for communities of color.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian echoed this criticism, telling employees in a memo that "it’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives."

Executives at Citibank, which Citigroup owns, also publicly opposed the law, throwing their support behind 72 Black business leaders who called on companies to push back against the legislation.

Georgia was one of a handful of swing states that President Biden won narrowly in 2020 over Trump. Biden’s win there marked the first time a Democrat had won the Peach state since 1992.

Source Newsmax and Foxnews


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