The 2024 U.S. presidential election is going to be ugly. CEOs ‘can’t sit out’

Good morning.

Yesterday was quite a day in U.S. politics. The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of interfering with the 2020 election while an Illinois judge ordered Trump’s removal from the state’s primary ballot over his alleged actions. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing Colorado’s decision to disqualify Trump from its primary ballot.

At the same time, a New York appeals court denied Trump’s request to delay payment of the state’s $454 million verdict against him, which his lawyers said could force property sales.

Over in Alabama, state lawmakers were advancing bills to protect in vitro fertilization after the State Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that frozen embryos should be considered children. (Alabama is ranked as one of the 10 worst states for women, based on a WalletHub report that incorporates factors like health care legislation and wage growth.) Back in Washington, a Senate Republican blocked the speedy passage of a federal bill to protect IVF.

Meanwhile, Congress reached a deal to delay a partial government shutdown that would have cut funding to several key federal agencies on March 1. It’s a short-term fix after an earlier short-term fix in an ongoing game of chicken that’s nerve-wracking to people of all political stripes and potentially devastating to the U.S. economy. Against that backdrop, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he plans to step down as Senate GOP leader in November is a reminder that, for good or for ill, the Kentucky senator knows how to navigate politics to get things done.

And that’s just a sample of what happened yesterday. There are likely to be a lot more days like that in the months to come, forcing leaders to decide when and how to speak up.

I posed that question last night to Alan Fleischmann. As founder, chairman and CEO of Laurel Strategies, Fleischmann brings a deep understanding of Washington when advising CEOs on how to navigate the current landscape.

Fleischmann has long advocated for a statesman-like approach to leadership that rises above partisan politics but also takes a clear stance on the issues that matter to the stakeholders in their business. “There’s a long runway between now and November, and CEOs realize that they can’t sit out,” he says. “The CEO has to be able to articulate how he or she leads in this environment.”

The good news is that people increasingly trust business more than government. But that’s contingent on having an authentic, relevant, and consistent stance backed up by the facts. Fleischmann’s advice for tailoring that message across the red state/blue state divide? Forget it. “Step up and state the truth.”

Diane Brady
@dianebrady
diane.brady@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com