Tomyamaguchi’s Weblog

Trump’s War on the Southern Poverty Law Center

I continue to receive emails from Republican candidates, right wing PACs, and other right wing organizations. It started when I registered to vote Republican in the 2012 presidential primary. I had intended to vote for Jon Huntsman as the least objectionable Republican. Of course, I planned on voting for Obama in the general election. Concerned that Obama might lose that election, I figured that a Republican that accepted climate science was was the least bad alternative. I switched back to the Democratic Party after that election and have never switched since then. I have never given a penny to Republicans, but the fundraising pitches continue to flood my inbox with praises for my past support that makes me one of their top patriots. Those pitches include Donald Trump, himself. The emails are so unhinged, they are actually entertaining, and when I see a pause in their delivery, I wonder if they finally realized that they are wasting their efforts to get any money out of me. The pauses turn out to be short. I figure, these groups and candidates are buying and selling stale email lists that identify me by the name Friend. Oh, and since Huntsman dropped out before I could vote in the primary, my vote went to Fred Karger, the first openly gay person to run for President for a major political party.

The only times I have responded to one of these emails is when I can respond to a poll that doesn’t require a donation to submit. These cases as few and far between. It us fun to be completely honest on my political opinions, and I always use an email account that I don’t mind being spammed. Sometimes, my honesty gets a cancelation from the sender, as I suspect with the case of John Bolton. Other times, the sender keeps me on their list, again praising me for my patriotism and support. One of these is the Heritage Foundation. Yes, that Heritage Foundation that gave us Project 2025. Here is one of their most recent emails that addresses me by name.

Dear Tom,

Heritage is eliminating the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate-filled influence in corporate America.

For years, the SPLC has smeared mainstream conservatives and conservative organizations as hateful bigots through their Hate Map.

Corporations then used the SPLC’s guidance to prevent employees from using employer matches to donate to conservative organizations—along with other woke corporate policies.

But that all changed when The Heritage Foundation began fighting back.

Through our Free Enterprise Initiative, we used the power of our endowment to file shareholder resolutions with major corporations to force them to disaffiliate from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Thanks to our effective negotiations, Meta, Salesforce, and Mastercard have already agreed to stop using the SPLC’s diagnostic tools—including its Hate Map—across all aspects of their business, including charitable giving programs.

Additionally, we have pending shareholder proposals related to the SPLC at Amazon and Alphabet.

Heritage will not stop until all of corporate America recognizes the SPLC for what it is. Not a trustworthy source of information, but a radical, left-wing organization dedicated to defaming regular Americans who love our country.

Thank you for supporting this important work to take back our institutions.

Best,


Tony Johnson

Director of Membership

P.S. Yesterday marked the anniversary of George Washington being sworn in as President of the United States. I love this line from his first inaugural address: “Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised when the Trump administration went after SPLC with its ridiculous charges. I responded with a small donation and the following note:

Dear Southern Poverty Law Center:
I am sorry that I have not been able to donate to a number of worthy organizations this past year. Money has become increasingly tight for me under this Trump economy. However, I must respond to the latest Trump outrage, even if it is with a small donation. That you would be accused of fraud sounds like a cruel joke. As a supporter of SPLC over the years, I believe my money was well spent. The knowledge of hate groups that you have uncovered has been valuable to our country, including to the pre Trump FBI, which has had no problem paying informers to solve crimes. I will continue to stand with SPLC as a defender of democracy.

The email from the Heritage Foundation angers me even more. Heritage and Trump are especially targeting SPLC since they have started exposing anti LGBT groups such as Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom, in addition to exposing the administration’s support for white supremacy and Christian Nationalism. They are intimidating companies, such as Meta, Salesforce, and Mastercard to withhold support from SPLC. It is time to stand up to these threats and intimidations. Just as we supported Jimmy Kimmel when ABC was being pressured to fire him, we need to step up and support SPLC in any way we can. A small donation would help. Go to https://www.splcenter.org. For SPLC’s response to these false accusations, go to https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-motions-grand-jury-informant-program/. 

May 3, 2026 - Posted by tomyamaguchi | Uncategorized | history, news, politics, racism, Trump