ATLANTA (AP) — The CEO of Delta Air Lines says “we are not taking sides” in the national debate over guns despite the company’s decision to cut ties with the National Rifle Association following the school massacre in Florida.
Delta released an internal memo Friday that CEO Ed Bastian sent employees after Georgia lawmakers voted to deny the Atlanta-based airline a tax break as punishment for crossing the NRA.
Bastian says: “Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to remove Delta from this debate.”
The move backfired. The Republican-led Georgia legislature moved swiftly to eliminate a proposed tax exemption on jet fuel from a broader tax bill that passed Thursday.
State Sen. Michael Williams, a GOP candidate for governor, told “Fox & Friends” on Friday: “We had to send a message.”
