Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase denied that they de-bank conservatives for their political beliefs, but dozens of prominent public figures and conservative influencers say otherwise.
(LifeSiteNews) -- Bank of America has been on the receiving end of a tidal wave of criticism since President Donald Trump called the company out during a virtual panel discussion hosted by the World Economic Forum last week.
“Many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump said.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, who was on stage when Trump made his remarks, appeared mortified and changed the subject before giving up his allotted speaking time.
Trump also directed his ire at JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
"You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you're going to open your bank to conservatives," he charged.
Both Chase and Bank of America’s marketing teams jumped into action to push back against Trump’s undeniably true remarks.
"We would never close accounts for political reasons and don't have a political litmus test," Bank of America alleged in an X post.
The company services some 70 million Americans and is the second largest bank in the country after Chase.
"We have never and would never close an account for political reasons,” a JPMorgan spokesperson told Business Insider via email.
But dozens of conservative influencers and prominent public figures say otherwise.
“I was debanked by Chase. Walked in one day to discover they had closed my account,” author Dinesh D’Souza said.
“This is a complete lie. You de-banked me, my children, stepchildren and … you even de-banked my ex-wife and her new husband,” Erik Prince, who is the brother of Trump’s former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, said on X in response to Bank of America.
“Just so you know, Bank of America canceled our bank account for our podcast,” X user Catturd explained in October 2022. The account has over three million followers and has posted pro-Trump content for many years.
Chase’s claim is especially galling given that it closed the account of the National Committee for Religious Freedom in 2022. The group was founded by former Kansas GOP Governor Sam Brownback. Chase also de-banked the Defense of Liberty and Arkansas Family Council, according to The Daily Signal.
Many other instances of de-banking have occurred over the past four years as well. The discrimination induced Tennessee lawmakers to adopt a landmark legislative solution aimed at curbing the weaponization of the financial system. Like a similar law that went into effect in Florida last year, Tennessee's legislation prohibited big banks from canceling customer accounts based on their constitutionally protected speech and religious exercise.
An article published on The Federalist yesterday cited lawyers from the pro-Christian Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) law center as believing that there is evidence that past behavior in certain departments at Bank of America “does suggest at least some” discrimination has occurred toward customers due to their religious or conservative political beliefs.
