At Least 3 Major Companies Refuse Ad Money from Trump

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VOA News

A popular U.S. entertainment and news website is saying no to advertising money from the Republican Party because of Donald Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee for president.

In an email to employees Monday, BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said the company would pull out of $1.3 million advertising deal with the Republican National Committee that was signed in April.

"We certainly do not like to turn away revenue that funds all the important work we do across the company," Peretti wrote. "However, in some cases we must make business exceptions: we don't run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won't accept Trump ads for the exact same reason."

Peretti cited the real estate mogul’s stances on Muslims, immigrants and other policies as reasons for pulling out of the deal.

"We don't need to and do not expect to agree with the positions or values of all our advertisers. And as you know, there is a wall between our business and editorial operations. This decision to cancel this ad buy will have no influence on our continuing coverage of the campaign," Peretti wrote.

The RNC responded with a statement to CNN, saying they “never intended” to use the ad space.

"Space was reserved on many platforms, but we never intended to use BuzzFeed," said RNC chief strategist and spokesman Sean Spicer in the statement. "It is ironic that they have not ruled out taking money from a candidate currently under investigation by the FBI."

The Trump campaign has yet to respond.

BuzzFeed is not the only company getting cold feet about the Trump campaign.

CBS News reports many corporate sponsors for the Republican convention in Cleveland are getting pressured to stay away.

The Color of Change PAC, a civil rights group, has been pressuring past sponsors of the convention to hold onto their money this time.Microsoft said it will not sponsor the convention and Coca-Cola, which gave nearly $700,000 in 2012 will only give $75,000 this year.

Tech company Hewlett-Packard has said it will not sponsor either party’s convention. Fellow tech companies Facebook and Google remain sponsors of the convention.

The RNC told CBS that despite some of the losses, it has secured about 90 percent of its $64 million budget.