Obama Finds an Ally in Wal-Mart, Whose Stores He Once Shunned
- Retailer backs Obamacare and his initiative on climate change
- Obama’s 2014 visit to California store marked shift in stance
President Barack Obama speaks at Wal-Mart in Mountain View, California, on May 9, 2014.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
As a freshman senator with his eye on the presidency, Barack Obama said he’d never shop at a Wal-Mart and held the company up as an emblem of corporate greed.
Today, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is one of Obama’s most reliable corporate allies, a go-to partner that’s backed the White House on more than a dozen business initiatives, particularly Obamacare and climate change.