Top Republican urges US CEOs to 'stay out of politics'

Apparently stung by big businesses criticizing a new voting law in the US state of Georgia, the top Republican in the US Senate has urged corporate America to "stay out of politics."

"My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don't pick sides in these big fights," Mitch McConnell told a press conference on Monday.

"Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order," he warned.

Since the bill's passage, corporations such as Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines-both headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia's capital-have voiced opposition to the measure.

"I found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics," added McConnell, whose party has long touted itself as business-friendly.

The law, which last month passed the state legislature without a single Democratic vote, criminalizes giving food or water to voters waiting in line to cast their ballots, cuts the number of ballot drop boxes, and establishes new ID requirements for absentee ballots.

It also curtails voting hours, shaving off an hour on election day in a move critics say is intended to hinder working-class voters' ability to cast ballots.

Though the measure has been passed and signed into law, it faces numerous legal challenges.