Manchin Tells CEOs to Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior With Campaign Checks

Steven T. Dennis
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin told a gathering of corporate leaders they’re rewarding “bad behavior” by sending campaign checks to politicians based on party or ideology and not asking how they’ll benefit.

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“Quit writing checks to everybody,” Manchin said at a Fortune CEO conference. “The investments you’ve made in politics from the Democrat side, and the Republican side, by asking nothing in return, is a foolish investment.”

Responding to a question about what the business community can do to better engage with a “dysfunctional” political system, Manchin, a Democrat, said the executives “are supporting bad behavior” by giving to politicians without asking questions.

He said executives would never spend money without asking for a return in the business world or in their private lives, and he gave them a primer on how to talk to politicians.

“Say, ‘listen, I’m sorry. I don’t give checks. I don’t give a donation or contribution to any politician. But I’m willing to make an investment,” Manchin told the CEOs in attendance. “What should I expect from you? What are you going to do? What have you done in your political life, and what will you do if this is your first time? Tell me so I can make a decision on whether I want to invest in you, because I can expect something in return.’”

He said small dollar donors are rewarding bad behavior as well, contributing to dysfunction in Washington.

Manchin’s spokeswoman, Sam Runyon, said later that the senator wasn’t suggesting that donors should expect a quid pro quo for contributions.

“He has long advocated for increased transparency in campaign finances and has repeatedly made the point that both voters and donors should hold elected officials accountable when they simply obstruct progress instead of looking for lasting, bipartisan solutions that put our country ahead of partisan politics,” Runyon said in an email.

Though he doesn’t face voters until 2024 and hasn’t decided whether to run, Manchin has raised $8.7 million in the current, two-year election cycle, more than he did for his 2018 reelection campaign. The surge in donations includes more than $800,000 from donors who listed their occupation as CEO, including Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management Inc., Laurence Fink of BlackRock Inc. and Samuel Bankman-Fried of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange.

--With assistance from Bill Allison.

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