A billionaire
Walmart heiress is publicly speaking out against President
Trump, breaking with the rest of the wealthy family and risking backlash for the
retail empire.
Christy Walton, the widow of one of the Walmart founder’s sons, took out a full-page ad in national newspapers, calling for people to “defend against aggression by dictators” and participate in demonstrations around the country this weekend, known as the “No Kings” protests. Walton took out a similar ad at the end of March.
The latest ad has thrust the Walton family, one of America’s richest, into a spotlight that it has largely tried to avoid. The ad has sparked cries for a boycott of Walmart on social media and grabbed the attention of Trump’s supporters and detractors.
“The advertisements from Christy Walton are in no way connected to or endorsed by Walmart,” said a Walmart spokeswoman. Walton didn’t alert or coordinate with the company before running the ads, according to people familiar with the situation.
Walton, 76, isn’t involved in the company or the trusts that hold the family’s stake. She married one of founder Sam Walton’s sons, John, and inherited some of his wealth when her husband died in 2005 in a small-aircraft accident in Wyoming. She primarily lives in Jackson Hole, Wyo., far from the company’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.