Stefanik echoed ?great replacement? theory. But firms kept donating.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was replaced last year by Stefanik as conference chair, said this week that House Republican leaders had “enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and antisemitism.” Cheney called on GOP leaders to “renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”None of the nearly two dozen companies contacted by The Post addressed questions about whether they saw a contradiction between their past statements and their political donations to Stefanik.Companies were not silent after the May 2020 death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed.Many companies responded with public commitments to racial justice. And many of them issued strong commitments to rooting out racism and pressing for change.Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement that the events “brought to light the sadness, pain and frustration felt by many because of long-standing racial inequality and social injustice.” And although it wasn’t part of the huge beermaker’s typical mission, chief executive Carlos Brito said the company did have “the ability to use our platform and influence to inspire change.”Its U.S. arm, Anheuser-Busch, did not respond to a request for comment about its political action committee’s $5,000 donation on March 31 to E-PAC, Stefanik’s leadership PAC for increasing the number of Republican women in Congress.Boeing gave $5,000 to E-PAC at the end of 2021, plus $2,000 to Elise for Congress earlier this year. Its leaders sent a companywide email after Floyd’s death saying, “We’ll use our platform to support and influence work to end racial inequality.”Some companies responded to The Post’s inquiry by saying their donations were focused on business policy alone.A Pfizer senior director, Sharon Castillo, said in an email that the company’s “decision to contribute to elected officials is made based on their support of the biopharmaceutical industry and policies that protect innovation incentives and patients’ access to medicines and vaccines.”General Motors spokesman Pat Morrisey said the automaker has committed $22 million so far to groups that promote inclusion and racial justice, far beyond the $10 million originally promised.GM’s employee-funded PAC, Morrisey said, supports bipartisan lawmakers who “foster sound business policies, support American workers and understand the importance of a robust domestic auto industry as we pursue an all-electric vehicle future.”As big corporations say ‘black lives matter,’ their track records raise skepticismBut these positions are increasingly untenable today because public expectations of corporate behavior have changed, said Americus Reed, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance.Consumers, especially younger ones, want a company’s values to be aligned with their own, Reed said.