The segment was about busy summer travel season and should not have contained politics. CBS Mornings hosts pestered the CEO of United Airlines on whether he had “an obligation” to help his employees get abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade. They also urged him and other business leaders to “speak out about controversial political issues.”
“Scott, we’ve been talking the last couple of weeks about the possibility of Roe V. Wade being overturned,” co-host Nate Burleson noted to the company’s chief executive Scott Kirby during an interview in the 7:30 a.m. ET hour. The anchor then press: “And, you know, I find that nowadays, politics and business are somewhat synonymous. Do you feel like it’s an obligation to step in when these issues arise for your employees?”
Kirby responded that she was avoiding weighing in on the topic of division.
My obligation is, in my opinion, to ensure that our employees are treated well. Our recent advertising campaign is, “Good leads the way.” We’ve tried to do the right thing throughout. It is my preference to set an example. United did a lot of work in sustainability, diversity and even vaccine requirements. It was not easy, but they took actions. Instead of just talking, take the initiative and act for the benefit of our employees and customers.
Moments later, fellow co-host Gayle King again raised the issue and pushed the business leader to take a side – clearly hoping he would be in favor of abortion: “Nate raised a good point about companies that are starting to speak out about controversial political issues. Do you intend to speak out publicly about these issues?”
However, Kirby still refused to take the bait: “You know, I – when we need to, we will. We have tried, however, to really focus on letting action lead the way….And there’s a lot of opportunities for us in corporate leadership to lead by positive example instead of just be putting out a corporate statement that’s opposed to something.”
This awkward attempt by Burleson and King to shoehorn politics into a non-political discussion came just a couple weeks after they similarly badgered the Bank of America CEO on whether he would agree to “cover travel expenses for women that want to get abortions in other states” if RoeIt was overturned.
The media are so accustomed to being left-wing activists that they think anyone else in a position of influence should be eager to jump into the political fray with them – as long as it’s on behalf of a leftist agenda.
The CBS hosts demanding the United Airlines CEO “speak out” in favor of abortion was brought to viewers by Amazon and Febreze. These advertisers can be contacted to let them know your opinion about sponsoring this content.
Below is the transcript from the May 17th exchange
7.35 am ET
(…)
NATE BURLESON: Scott, we’ve been talking the last couple of weeks about the possibility of Roe V. Wade being overturned. You know what? I think politics and business have become somewhat synonymous. Do you feel like it’s an obligation to step in when these issues arise for your employees?
SCOTT KIRBY [UNITED AIRLINES CEO]: My obligation is, in my opinion, to make sure that our employees are happy. Our recent advertising campaign is, “Good leads the way.” We’ve tried to do the right thing throughout. It is my preference to set an example. United’s work on diversity and sustainability was very controversial. But we took the initiative. Let’s not talk, but let us take action and make the right decisions for our employees as well as our customers.
(…)
7.37 am ET
GAYLE KING: Nate made a great point about companies who are beginning to talk out about political issues. Are you planning to make a public statement about these topics?
KIRBY: You know, I – when we need to, we will. We tried to focus our efforts on making sure that we let action take the lead. You know, one of the frustrations I think we all have with politics, it’s become divisive. Some people are more against than for the other side. We can do things like the Aviate Academy, which is training the next generation of pilots but it’s also affecting diversity. That’s inspirational to people. It’s positive. Positive example is a good way to lead. And there’s a lot of opportunities for us in corporate leadership to lead by positive example instead of just be putting out a corporate statement that’s opposed to something.
(…)