It was a normative statement I believe ("companies should not be people and should not have rights") rather than a factual one (I'm sure they're aware & that's

It was a normative statement I believe ("companies should not be people and should not have rights") rather than a factual one (I'm sure they're aware & that's why they felt compelled to make the declaration). English is sadly lacking in this regard, where you often get to make a strongly worded statement or an unambiguous statement, but it's very difficult to do both at the same time.