No amount of money that the DeVos family contributes to charity groups through their foundations can undo the harm that their political funding creates

Over the years one of the major points we have been making about how the DeVos family uses their money, is that while their foundations provide funding to social service and charity organizations, the amount of money they give to political candidates with the Republican Party is to push policies that actually create the social, political and economic conditions that results in people having to utilize social service & charity-based resources.

The most recent election cycle demonstrates not only how much money the DeVos family contributes to the GOP, but what their money is buying in terms of policy.

In doing a search on the site OpenSecrets.org, I found 39 entries for DeVos family members just in the first quarter of 2020. The family members listed are Dick DeVos, Doug DeVos, Dan DeVos, Maria DeVos, Pamela DeVos and Cheri DeVos.

The total amount contributed by these members of the DeVos family in the first quarter of 2020 to Republican candidates and a Republican committee was $130,800. Of course, this amount doesn’t include money the contributes to PACs, Dark money groups like Donor’s Trust or funds to candidates running for state and local offices. Here is a breakdown of the candidates and committees that the DeVos family members contributed to just in the first quarter of 2020:

• Great American Committee $30,000
• Peter Meijer $22,400
• Randy Feenstra $16,800
• Jessica Taylor $14,000
• Esther Joy King $16,800
• Genevieve Collins $16,800
• Beth Van Duyne $14,000

Looking at where the members of the DeVos family contributed their political money certainly reveals a great deal to confirm the point made at the beginning of this article. The Great American Committee, “supports candidates and elected officials who fight with the President in making America Great again, and is led by our Chairman, Vice President Mike Pence.” 

There is a place on the Great American Committee site to make contributions and only links to the twitter account of President Trump and Vice President Pence. The Trump administration has made it a point to increase the gap between the very rich and everyone else, thus pushing more families into poverty. In addition to the economic harm, his administration has openly promoted White Supremacy, misogyny, ablism, homophobia/transphobia and contempt for immigrants. The amount of harm this administration has done is hard to quantify, but this is exactly what the DeVos family is paying for – violence, harm, hatred and suffering.

We could stop there to make our point about how the DeVos family finances candidates that once elected push policies that hurt working people, immigrants and the black community, but lets at least look at the candidates they contributed to in the first quarter of 2020.

Peter Meijer is running for the 3rd Congressional District in Michigan. If you look at his issues page, you can see clearly what the DeVos family members are paying for – anti-abortion, merit-based immigration policies, defense of gun owners, small government, deregulation of the economy, a tax system that benefits the super rich, school choice, militarized border and emphatic support for Israel. 

Randy Feenstra is running for the 4th Congressional District of Iowa. Randy says he is a champion of taxpayers, wants to stop illegal immigration, protect Christian values and protect gun owners. 

Jessica Taylor was running for a Congressional seat in Alabama, but lost in the primary. Taylor hates Socialism and regularly used a flamethrower in her videos, with a Trump sticker prominently displayed. This is what members of the DeVos family were endorsing with their money. 

Esther Joy King is running for the 17th Congressional District of Illinois. Her priorities are supporting agribusiness, supporting a market-based health care system, continuing the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration, for the US to be the world’s military leader, the system of capitalism, opposing women’s reproductive rights and supporting gun owners. This is what the DeVos family members are endorsing with their money.

Genevieve Collins is running for the 32nd Congressional District of Texas. Her website features Genevieve exercising. On the issues, Genevieve is committed to the economic system of capitalism, school choice, a strong military, a market-based health care system, defense of Israel, a continuation of Trumps immigration policies, opposes women’s reproductive rights and supporting the fossil fuel industry, particularly in Texas.

Beth Van Duyne is running for the 24th Congressional District of Texas. Her website says she is a Christian, Conservative, Mother. Beth doesn’t have issues listed, but writes: 

I’ve been asked what prompted me to run for public office; the answer is simple – my children. We live in a very fragile time for our nation, our families, and the future of the American Dream. Socialism is on the rise, our border crisis has never been worse, and we face constant threats from hostile nations willing to use cyber-attacks, nuclear weapons, and terrorist jihad. When I think about my two children, I want them to have the same opportunities in life that I did; I want them to be able to grow up safe and proud of our country.

This is also what the members of the DeVos family are buying with their money, which is to say they are buying hatred of immigrants, hatred of the LGBTQ community, white supremacy, capitalism, US imperialism and an end to women’s reproductive rights.

No amount of money that the DeVos family contributes to charity groups through their foundations can undo the harm that their political funding creates.