Starbucks made headlines Tuesday night when social media users pointed out that the coffee company was listed as a corporate sponsor for the Republican National Convention.
“After years of identifying as a progressive employer, Starbucks is now sponsoring the Republican National Convention,” read one since-deleted viral post on X (formerly Twitter).
The Hill picked up the story with the headline “Starbucks sponsors Republican National Convention.” The story has also since been deleted.
In reality, Starbucks was listed as a sponsor for the Milwaukee Host Committee for the RNC, not the RNC itself. Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson clarified that the company had not donated any money to the convention.
“We are not providing a cash sponsorship of any kind,” Anderson said in an email to The New Republic. Instead of financial support, Starbucks is “providing in-kind support directly to the MKE 2024 Host Committee by providing coffee onsite to the first responders who are serving the city during the convention.”
Cops, such as the out of town police officers who shot and killed an armed man outside the RNC Tuesday afternoon, can access Starbucks coffee and other beverages at the five RNC venues in Milwaukee.
On the Milwaukee Host Committee’s website, the union-busting company’s logo is pictured next to far-right groups like Turning Point USA, the Heritage Foundation, Rumble, and more.
“The Host Committee is proud to have several partners who are supporting our mission to promote Milwaukee to the world,” Evan Hafenbreadl of the Milwaukee Host Committee said in a statement to The New Republic.
As expressed on its website, the Milwaukee Host Committee is a “nonpartisan entity created to work with the City of Milwaukee in preparing for and successfully producing the Republican National Committee (RNC) convention.”
In its statement, Starbucks clarified that it will provide the same services at the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago. “Our support of first responders and volunteers at the conventions is an extension of our ongoing commitment to the communities where we operate – which includes Milwaukee and Chicago,” wrote Anderson.
In 2016, Starbucks also provided support for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland by keeping their downtown stores open 24/7 during the event.
Starbucks Workers United had no comment for The New Republic.
