Fox Business reports that Brian Moynihan, Chairman/CEO of Bank of America, is eager for a meeting with New York City‘s newly-elected Marxist anti-Semitic Mayor, Zohran Mamdani. From the story:
“Now that a mayor is in office, whether it’s this city or any other city, we have an obligation as a company to work with him to try to make the city successful,” Moynihan said Tuesday on Fox News.
“I’ve got 16,000 teammates who work just in the neighborhood here, and we’ve got to make it successful.”…
Moynihan argued that the company’s success is partly tied to the success of elected officials like Mamdani and the cities, towns and states they represent.
He told “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade he plans to request a meeting with the mayor-elect, calling the issue “important” to thousands of Bank of America employees and their families who rely on New York City being “great.”
“As I look forward, I hope that the mayor will engage with us, and we’ll give him some ideas,” he added.
Of course the famously woke CEO has had nothing negative to say about the new Mayor, unlike nine years ago when expressed strong opposition to North Carolina’s HB2 law, known at the time as the “transgender bathroom” bill, which prohibited men from using public facilities designated for women and girls. The Tar Heel State was ostracized by Fortune 500 companies over the common-sense measure that neutralized foolishness enacted by the Charlotte City Council, which had enabled a free-for-all of restroom use however one pleased. Moynihan said of the state law at the time, “We have been clear and on the record that HB2 should be repealed.”
Bank of America also has a significant employee presence in the Charlotte area, in excess of 10,000 workers. Yet rather than “work with” and “give ideas” to help make the city successful, instead Moynihan signed a letter to then-Gov. Pat McCrory along with dozens of other corporate leaders that condemned the passage of HB2:
Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.
We are disappointed in your decision to sign this discriminatory legislation into law. The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business. This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the nation. It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.
That’s not all. Nearly a year after HB2’s passage, Moynihan was at a meeting in Charlotte continuing to gaslight about the law, as was reported by a local NPR affiliate:
As for North Carolina, Moynihan told the crowd he thinks last year’s controversial House Bill 2 is still hurting the state’s economy. The big concerns, he said, aren’t lost events and corporate relocations already announced, but those we don’t know about.
“What convention decided to take you off the list? What location for a distribution facility took you off the list? What corporate headquarters consideration for a foreign company that – there’s a lot of ’em out here – just took you off the list because they just didn’t want to be bothered with the controversy? That’s what eats you up,” Moynihan said.
That doesn’t mean North Carolina’s economic engine is grinding to a halt. Moynihan said the state’s economy has good momentum but behind the scenes the situation is deteriorating.
As NLPC pointed out recently, during the height of the bathroom bill controversy throughout 2016 and immediately following its enactment going into 2017, North Carolina remained among the top states for inbound migration from other states — as it has been for more than two decades since.
As for tourism, in 2016 North Carolina enjoyed a record-high (at that time) $22.9 billion in visitor spending dollars. Even state affiliates for NPR had to admit that the boycott bonanza didn’t not put a dent in tourism: “HB2 Didn’t Stop Tourists In 2016.”
Last week the New York Post’s Charlie Gasparino reported that Moynihan is on the hot seat with his board of directors, over Bank of America’s lackluster performance compared to other top banks. Now today Gasparino has reported that Moynihan was snubbed by President Trump, who has invited several Wall Street titans to the White House for a powwow over dinner, “signaling a persistent rift between the pair over the “debanking” of the president following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot:”
Moynihan, CEO of the nation’s second-biggest bank, failed to score an invite to the Wednesday dinner — even as JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon received an invite and is expected to attend, according to sources. Other CEOs slated to attend include Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman, Larry Fink of Blackrock, Ted Pick of Morgan Stanley and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was invited but won’t be able to attend, according to a source close to the situation. Fraser is believed to be in Trump’s good graces following a report last month that she secured a deal to begin managing Trump’s money.
Dimon’s invite comes despite the fact that JPMorgan disclosed last week that it’s being probed over allegations it denied banking services to conservatives. Dimon, however, is known as a political moderate who has maintained a close relationship with Trump, who has often floated his name as a possible Treasury secretary.
As for the BofA boss, “Trump has no great love for Moynihan,” according to a CEO who is slated to attend the Wednesday dinner.
Maybe Mamdani will make some time for the CEO while the deals are struck in DC.
