During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Donald Trump participated via video link and took the opportunity to harshly criticize the big banks and how they discriminate against Americans who hold the “wrong” political views.
– I hope you will open your banks to conservatives, because what you are doing is wrong, the president declared.
Targeting Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Trump made it clear that he was very unhappy with the way banks are treating parts of the Republican voter base.
– You’ve done a fantastic job, but I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives because many conservatives complained that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank and that included a place called Bank of America,
– They don’t take conservative business and I don’t know if regulators mandated that because of Biden or what, but you and (J.P. Morgan Chase CEO) Jamie (Dimon) and everybody, I hope you will open your banks to conservatives, because what you are doing is wrong, the president emphasized.
NEW: Trump calls out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan to his face, says banks should stop debanking conservatives during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum.
Lmao. Amazing.
The panel was clearly uncomfortable after Trump made the comment.
“I hope you start… pic.twitter.com/PZgH6LuDVQ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 23, 2025
“We welcome conservatives”
The mood was noticeably nervous, and afterwards, both Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have come out and claimed that they would never suspend customers’ accounts for political reasons.
– We serve more than 70 million clients, we welcome conservatives and have no political litmus test, a Bank of America representative said.
– We follow the law and guidance from our regulators and have long said there are problems with the current framework that Washington needs to address, the JPMorgan Chase spokesman defended himself.
There is a widespread perception in the US that conservative and nationalist-minded Americans have long been the victims of discrimination and unfair treatment – by the Democratic establishment, but also by banks and other large corporations.
A very large proportion of them also voted for Donald Trump in the last election and are now hoping that there will be significant changes on that front under the new US president.