Marco Rubio and Joe Biden should return money from sponsors of the genocide Olympics

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Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has tough words for China's Olympic games. "No Olympics should be held in a country whose government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity,” he wrote in a letter last year.

Rubio has backed his position with legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Since then he has gotten even tougher on the communist dictatorship, calling for the Olympics to be moved because of China's genocide against the Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang province. 

That's one reason the American corporate sponsors of China's genocide Olympics are keeping a low profile as the Games begin. The sponsors don't pay China directly; their money goes to the International Olympic Committee to subsidize athletes from around the world, but without the sponsorships the Olympics couldn't go on in Beijing. And given that the decision to put the Olympics in China came in 2015, they've had plenty of time to find a way to back out.

Supported by Olympics sponsors

Airbnb, Intel, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Bridgestone and Visa all look sleazy for supporting an odious regime's effort to pretend it is a normal country while, in addition to committing genocide, it crushed democracy and freedom of the press in Hong Kong, a city-state of more than 7 million people. 

All that makes it interesting that genocide Olympics sponsor Visa gave $5,000 to Marco Rubio's campaign last year through the company's political action committee. Why would the senator take money from the same folks who sponsor those who put Uyghurs in reeducation camps while shutting down independent news organizations in Hong Kong that might report on human rights abuses?

His office wouldn't comment on the record, but Rubio has had tough words for Visa and the others, accusing them of "ignoring an ongoing genocide in the blind pursuit of profits."

Congratulations, athletes! Please stay safe at the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

In January, Republican Indiana Sen. Todd Young launched a project to highlight what's going on in China called "Beijing Behaving Badly." Perhaps he got tips from Visa when its PAC handed his campaign $5,000 last year. Or maybe he got ideas from Procter & Gamble when its PAC handed over $2,500. Intel gave another $2,500. His spokesman didn't reply to my question about being sponsored by the same good folks who will bring you the Beijing Olympics.

Indeed, Republicans as a whole have been hard on China in recent years, but they're not shy about putting their hand out to the companies that gave millions to sponsor China's communist propaganda coup. Ignoring genocide is OK, as long as they get some of those profits.

Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Mike Crapo of Idaho all took $2,500 or more from Visa for their campaigns. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski took $10,000 from Procter & Gamble for her campaign. South Dakota Sen. John Thune took $5,000 from Intel for his. 

Democrats accept sponsors' donations

If you're a Democrat, don't gloat. With Procter & Gamble, Intel and Visa, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took in $17,500 in campaign donations. That makes him the biggest beneficiary of the Olympic sponsors' PACs last year.

Accountability? The Beijing Olympics show companies are hypocrites on human rights.

Schumer is a big supporter of the Biden administration, which officially declared China guilty of genocide in March. The Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in December. Schumer's office did not respond to my questions.

And speaking of President Joe Biden, in the 2020 election cycle he was popular with the sponsors of the Beijing genocide Olympics and their employees:

• Airbnb's top individual political donation recipient was Joe Biden with nearly $183,000
• Coca-Cola's top recipient was Biden with more than $112,000
• Intel's top recipient was Biden with $582,000
• Procter & Gamble's top recipient was Biden with $129,000
• Visa's top recipient was Biden  with $164,000

I am still waiting for the White House press office to get back to me about the president's campaign taking in a cool $1.1 million from the sponsors of the Beijing Olympics and their employees and executives.

This is my last chance at a gold medal. Will anyone be watching?

Companies bowing to Beijing while the country is erasing a religious minority makes me think about them differently. If I have a choice, I  won't associate with them. No more Coke Zero in my fridge. Mastercard instead of Visa. When I have a choice, I'll pass over Bounce, Charmin and Gillette. 

Companies and elected leaders will regret their decision

I wish that politicians would look at these companies differently, too. If I were Marco Rubio, a fierce critic of communism, I wouldn't want to take money from the companies that fund communist propaganda displays like the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Uyghur American: I was born in a Chinese reeducation camp. I will always fight China's lies.

With the 1936 Olympics, the world had the opportunity to show its disdain for Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime, then preparing a genocide against its Jewish religious minority. We didn't. Few stayed away from Berlin. Today, even fewer look back on the decision with pride.

When the full truth about what happened to the Uyghurs in China comes out, the companies that sponsored these Winter Games won't look back with pride. Neither will the politicians who chose to take their tainted money.

David Mastio is an opinion writer for Paste BN. Follow him on Twitter @DavidMastio.