A number of prominent figures, particularly conservatives, have accused banks and other institutions of cutting ties with them, apparently based on ideological differences.
The latest example came on Thursday when Donald Trump Jr. confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group had unceremoniously closed an account for a news site he co-founded about a year ago.
Taylor Budowich, who previously served as a spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, also helped launch MxM News as a conservative alternative to aggregator services like Apple News.
He said that he first learned about PNC’s decision when he approached an employee at a bank branch in Florida to make an account payment.
“The teller said he was unable to complete the transfers as the account had been closed and balance had been zeroed out,” Budowich recalled. “After being told to call a generic helpline, I was informed by the PNC representative that per the terms and conditions, PNC reserves the right to re-evaluate their business relationships at any time and terminate accounts without cause.”
Touting MxM News as a service that provides “curated stories that are being silenced and/or suppressed by Big Tech and the mainstream media,” the younger Trump said that his experience with PNC further proves that the banking industry has also “become plagued by the woke agenda.”
He said that he and Budowich were ultimately able to resolve the banking issue but insisted that the situation should have never occurred in the first place.
Donald Trump Jr says PNC bank telling him that it was a mistake that his account got canceled was bulls**it. @DonaldJTrumpJr: "Have you ever noticed that the mistakes only go one way" pic.twitter.com/brcKq3YXBx
— 3sidedstory 🇺🇲 (@3sidedstory) March 3, 2023
“This should be investigated and it should be illegal to discriminate based on political affiliation,” he added.
The bank declined to “comment on the closure of specific accounts,” but issued a blanket assertion that its “account closure decisions are never driven by politics.”
For his part, Budowich determined that “woke corporations are using their terms and conditions like a guillotine over the head of every conservative entrepreneur.”
Late last year, Wells Fargo closed the account of gun shop owner Brandon Wexler, indicating that its decision was based on risk assessment.
“We recently reviewed your account relationship and, as a result of this review, we will be closing your above-referenced accounts,” the bank informed him at the time.