United CEO ‘Not Aware’ Employees Disapproved of Cutting Ties with NRA

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said during a shareholders meeting on Wednesday that he was “not aware” a poll had shown the airline’s employees overwhelmingly disapproved of cutting ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA).

United was one of over a dozen companies that severed relationships with the NRA within two weeks of the February 14, 2018, high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

That shooting had involved a gun that was legally purchased via a background check then illegally used in gun-free Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Leftists emerged after the shooting blaming the NRA for it.

United ended its relationship with the NRA’s five million members.

During the Wednesday meeting, National Center for Public Policy Research’s (NCPPR) David Almasi confronted Munoz, asking how he could make such a decision when an Inc.com poll showed the airline’s employees opposed cutting ties by a margin of four to one. Munoz said he was not aware of a poll showing employees disliked the decision.

Almasi added, “First, when you take a political action on behalf of the company, maybe you should actually check with [the employees] first. And can you explain why you didn’t run this decision by the board of directors before you made it — if you did not?”

During United’s May 2018 shareholders meeting, NCPPR’s Justin Danhof confronted Munoz over cutting ties with the NRA.

Danhof said:

I suppose you are ignoring the fact that the NRA had nothing to do with what happened in Parkland and that the perpetrator had zero affiliation with the NRA. But, hey, congratulations on your virtue signaling. What exactly did investors get out of that? The company is willfully giving up money. That’s an odd choice for an airline company in a hyper-competitive industry…

[Bekrshire Hathaway CEO Warren] Buffett… explain[ed] that corporations that make in-the-moment political decisions are subject to the fickle nature of politics and are constantly reacting to events rather than standing on consistent principles.

Can you tell us – your investors – how it makes sound business sense to alienate millions of potential customers who support the 2nd Amendment, and explain why you have this right while Warren Buffet has this wrong?

Munoz responded by saying his decision “wasn’t political.” But Danhof countered Munoz’s response while speaking to press after the meeting: “United fell in line with the liberal mob. Of course its decision was political… [H]e refused to address how this decision might affect United’s business. That should concern the company’s investors. That’s a leadership failure of epic proportions.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.