'Wokeness is on its deathbed': Walmart kicking DEI, LGBT activism to the curb



Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck and other conservatives keen to depoliticize corporate America have gone online to celebrate a massive victory in the war on woke this week: Walmart, which employs roughly 1.6 million workers nationwide, is scrapping its divisive DEI initiatives and curbing both its customer-facing and worker-facing LGBT activism.

"This is the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America," said Starbuck, who has successfully pressured a number of other American companies, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel's, and John Deere, to abandon their race-obsessive policies, embrace of gender ideology, and other alienating leftist commitments.

"This won't just have a massive effect for their employees who will have a neutral workplace without feeling that divisive issues are being injected but it will also extend to their many suppliers," continued Starbuck. "Companies like Amazon and Target should be very nervous that their top competitor dropped woke policies first. I think Target specifically will suffer serious sales problems as a result and Walmart will benefit."

Following "productive conversations" with Walmart executives, Starbuck announced Monday that Walmart committed to ending its participation in the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a "national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees" used strategically to crush dissent and maximize conformity.

Walmart once again secured a perfect score on the index last year by engaging in LGBT activism and outreach and by providing sex-change guidelines; at least one additional transvestite "inclusive policy or practice for its employees"; and LGBT training elements and an "intersectionality" training session.

'The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality.'

Starbuck noted that Walmart has also committed to: identifying and removing "inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children"; reviewing all funding for LGBT events to ensure that kids are not targeted with inappropriate sexualized content; letting its Center for Racial Equity initiative expire; ensuring that supplier diversity programs are not discriminating on the basis of race; eliminating the term "LatinX" from official communications; discontinuing "racial equity training"; and ditching the use of the term DEI.

The company has confirmed its change of course, telling the Guardian in a statement:

Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America. We've been on a journey and know we aren't perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers, and to be a Walmart for everyone.

Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman told CNBC that the company will no longer permit third-party sellers to sell various LGBT-themed items on the Walmart website, especially products, such as harmful chest binders, that target confused children.

Chest binders are pieces of compression clothing that flatten a woman's chest to make her more "male-presenting." They reportedly can cause breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, headaches, skin infections, broken ribs, and malformations of the spine. According to a 2021 study in the journal Pediatrics, 97% of those who use them suffer health problems as a result.

While Walmart is taking steps to shield children from LGBT propaganda and deformative apparel, it will continue to award grants and funding to LGBT events such as Pride parades.

Blakeman also confirmed that the company will no longer share data with the HRC and will wind down its Center for Racial Equity.

"Our campaigns are now so effective that we're getting the biggest companies on earth to change their policies without me even posting a story outlining their woke policies," wrote Starbuck. "Companies can clearly see that America wants normalcy back. The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are now the trend, not the anomaly."

'Keep up the pressure.'

Starbuck was deluged with congratulatory messages and thanks for helping Walmart find its way back to common sense.

"Great!" wrote Elon Musk.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, recently nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as American ambassador to Israel, tweeted, "Standing ovation for @robbystarbuck who is perhaps the most influential person in America restoring our culture & country to sanity! He is [fire emoji]! And thanks to @Walmart for focusing on the core business of retail. It's a gift to the customers & shareholders."

Andy Puzder, the former CEO of Hardee's, similarly thanked Starbuck and noted, "The list of actions Walmart is taking to walk away from DEI is impressive! The #1 US employer’s labor policies will once again be based on qualifications, merit and character not sex or skin color. A true win for US workers of every race & both sexes!"

"Wokeness is on its deathbed," tweeted All-American swim star Riley Gaines.

Starbuck appeared to agree with the sentiment, noting elsewhere, "Wokeness is on life support. We just have to keep up the pressure."

The Bud Light boycott demonstrated the vulnerability of corporate giants to conservative boycotts. While the threat of a repeat performance may be enough to prompt companies to act, some organizations may also be responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29, 2023, decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard/UNC banning race-based college admission. The high court held that it is unconstitutional under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for colleges and universities to factor race into the admissions process.

While some legal experts have indicated that the decision has no direct legal impact on private employers, it has nevertheless paved the way for numerous lawsuits and federal civil rights complaints targeting companies' DEI initiatives, such as the complaint America First Legal filed in September with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the kitchenware retailer Williams Sonoma.

Just weeks after the Supreme Court ruling, the attorneys general of 13 states wrote a letter reminding Fortune 100 CEOs of their obligations as employers under federal and sate law to "refrain from discriminating on the basis of race, whether under the label of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' or otherwise."

It appears that companies that depoliticize their offerings will not only maximize their market reach but possibly also minimize their legal liability in the face of increasing effective backlash.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck makes Harley-Davidson do a U-turn on woke policies



Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck announced on X Monday that under threat of boycott and amidst a concerted pressure campaign, the 121-year-old motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has scrapped various leftist initiatives.

"We did it again," wrote Starbuck. "3 for 3. The left fears what I'm doing because it's effective. The attacks will increase with the plan we have but we have a plan and it accounts for the arrows that will be fired at us. We won't slow down for anyone."

Starbuck has now successfully targeted Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson for their race-obsessive policies, embrace of gender ideology, and other alienating leftist commitments, which appear to be at odds with the conservatives amongst these companies' clientele.

The ideological capture of Wall Street and of beloved American businesses was long in the making; however, by the time many realized what exactly had happened to the system and the brands they grew up with, the time to mount a meaningful defense had passed.

Some conservatives have recently gone on offense, threatening companies' bottom lines only to discover that this — and perhaps only this — is the means of reconquest.

Having undoubtedly gleaned insights both into corporations' low tolerance for consumer backlash from the Bud Light saga and into the efficacy of an unflinching information assault of the kind waged by Christopher Rufo against universities' DEI czars, Starbuck and others have gone to war with American legacy companies over their wokery.

'When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world.'

Blaze News previously reported that Starbuck and others blasted Tractor Supply, a company established in 1938, for mandating its employees to undergo "LGBTQIA+ training," for funding sex-change mutilations through its health plan, and for sponsoring so-called family-friendly transvestite performances, as well as for other leftist initiatives.

The exposure was evidently too much to handle, as Tractor Supply announced on June 27 that it had taken the "feedback to heart," and would: no longer volunteer data to the powerful LGBT activist group that calls itself the Human Rights Campaign; ditch "DEI roles and retire [its] current DEI goals"; and jettison its carbon emission goals.

When similarly targeted for liberation, John Deere similarly traded the LGBT colors back for the red, white and blue, indicating it would "no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events," and would be taking additional steps to shore up customer trust.

Last month, Starbuck launched his latest campaign: a boycott of Harley-Davidson, a once-beloved motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903.

In a series of social media posts and videos, he provided fuel for a Bud Light-style boycott, alleging that the company

  • supports legislation that would enable men to enter "girl's bathrooms, sports and locker-rooms";
  • required thousands of employees to undertake training on "how to become LGBTQ+ allies";
  • was a founding member of the Wisconsin's LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce — a group that opposed a law which would have saved children from sex-change mutilations;
  • celebrated two additional "Months of Inclusion" beside so-called Pride Month;
  • worked on having "less White suppliers, dealers and employees";
  • partnered yearly with "Pride Ride"; and
  • partnered with the Human Rights Campaign on non-straight activism, ultimately securing a 90/100 rating on the HRC's CEI index.

'We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks.'

Starbuck also highlighted some statements made and actions taken by the company's German-born CEO, Jochen Zeitz, that might prickle customers, including the climate alarmist's

  • boast that his corporate activism had at least one peer calling him the "sustainable Taliban";
  • signing of a joint letter to the COP28 presidency demanding an end to fossil fuels;
  • criticism of President Donald Trump for leaving the Paris Agreement;
  • committal of Harley-Davidson to the UN Global Compact; and
  • advocacy for DEI.

"I don't think the values at corporate reflect the values of nearly any Harley Davidson bikers," wrote Starbuck. "Do Harley riders want the money they spend at Harley to be used later by corporate to push an ideology that’s diametrically opposed to their own values?"

Starbuck added, "When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world and we can restore great American companies to a culture of sanity, meritocracy and culture war neutrality OR we can inspire competitors to step up to fight for our business."

Whatever pressure Americans helped apply in concert with the conservative filmmaker appears to have been enough.

At noon on Monday, Harley-Davidson stated on X, "We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community. As a Company, we take this issue very seriously, and it is our responsibility to respond with clarity, action and facts."

Harley-Davidson claimed that pursuant to an internal stakeholder review initiated earlier this year, the company has kicked its supplier diversity spend goals to the curb and does not have hiring quotas. It noted further that its "DEI function" has been dead since April 2024 and the company does "not have a DEI function today."

Harley-Davidson also indicated it will no longer participate in HRC scoring going forward and "will focus exclusively on growing the sport of motorcycling and retaining our loyal riding community."

"Socially motivated content" in training sessions will apparently disappear in the rear view mirror along with the company's race obsession and HRC participation.

— (@)

"Harley-Davidson corporate can be sad all they want but our movement gets results," said Starbuck.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Glenn Beck: Here's why Tractor Supply said goodbye to woke DEI



Tractor Supply Co. is a farming supplies retailer headquartered in Tennessee, and it's just gone where no large modern company has gone before.

The company is dropping the diversity, equity, and inclusion goals that it had previously set for itself. In addition, DEI roles will be eliminated, carbon emissions goals will be withdrawn, and the company will stop sending data to the Human Rights Campaign.

Tractor Supply made the move after information began circulating that the company was deeply involved in DEI and ESG initiatives, and its stock price took a nosedive.

“We work hard living up to our mission and our values every day, and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve,” the company wrote in a statement. “We’ve heard from our customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

The backlash began when conservative Robby Starbuck highlighted the company's actions on X, which included DEI hiring practices, in-office Pride Month decorations, climate change activism, and “funding sex changes.”

“He decimated them,” Glenn Beck says. “Just took them apart with everything that they have.”

Stu Burguiere is impressed by the company's response.

“It’s very rare,” Burguiere tells Glenn. “Even Bud Light, who seemingly overtly changed directions, right? Like you could tell by their actions. They never came out and said, ‘And just so you know, we’re totally off the bandwagon.’ They just kind of did it and hoped you noticed.”

Glenn, however, remains skeptical.

“I’d like to see if this is just, you know, another customer service kind of thing and a campaign ad,” he says.


Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Tractor Supply Co. DUMPS its Woke DEI Policies | What You Should Know

Tractor Supply Co. DUMPS its Woke DEI Policies | What You Should Know

Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images

ESG corporatists champion ultra-processed foods

The hottest new trends on Wall Street involve promoting foods that make Americans sick.

Dove partners with morbidly obese BLM activist who destroyed a white student's life over a misheard comment to promote 'fat liberation'



It appears as though the toiletries company Dove is keen on getting its wings clipped.

Dove, the soap outfit owned by the London-based multinational giant Unilever, has taken a page out of Bud Light's book of marketing best-practices and partnered with a controversial radical to peddle their wares and advance a woke agenda.

Rather than once again having a transvestite make a mockery out of womanhood, the soap company has teamed up with a morbidly obese BLM radical known for her iconoclasm, her aversion to healthy living, and for allegedly ruining the life of a white student over a "misheard" comment.

What's the background?

Zyahna Bryant, 22, is a leftist community organizer and former DEI intern who recently graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She prides herself on harboring a lifelong antipathy towards the police, having supposedly organized her first rally for Trayvon Martin at the age of 12.

Years later, she petitioned to have the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, taken down and other elements of the area's history erased.

TheBlaze reported earlier this year that Bryant allegedly destroyed the reputation of a fellow student at the University of Virginia, claiming Morgan Bettinger had said protestors, including some who were black, would make "good speedbumps," when in reality it appears she had just lauded a driver for protecting BLM protestors from oncoming traffic "because otherwise, these people would have been speed bumps."

Bryant launched a vicious campaign against Bettinger. Not only did she advance her preferred narrative on social media, but she allegedly sought to have her fellow student expelled from UVA.

Upon investigating the incident, two different UVA organizations reportedly agreed with Bettinger's account whereby the comment was not as Bryant had framed it, but instead innocuous in nature.

Bryant later admitted she may have "misheard" Bettinger's words on the day in question.

Despite Bryant's admission and a dearth of evidence, UVA's University Judiciary Committee found Bettinger guilty of using "shameful rhetoric" which "put members of the community at risk." As a consequence of the ruling, Bettinger, who had already been subjected to horrible abuse as a result of Bryant's allegations, ended up with an expulsion in abeyance on her permanent record and had to both write the BLM radical an apology and perform 50 hours of community service with a social justice group.

Bettinger is considering filing a lawsuit, reported the Daily Mail.

Corporation-championed corpulence

Bryant announced on Instagram Aug. 31 that she was partnering with Dove to support the work of both National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance and the Fat Legal Advocacy Rights and Education project.

"My belief is that we should be centering the voices and experiences of the most marginalized people and communities at all times," said Bryant. "So when I think about what that liberation looks like, to me, it looks like centering the voices and the experiences of those who live and who maneuvered through spaces and institutions in a fat body."

Liberation from morbid obesity apparently does not involve self-restraint, exercise and healthy eating. Rather, according to Bryant, "it looks like making accessible spaces and having conversations that are aware of the fact that people have different bodies and that they are interacting with space and people and institutions and communities in a different way."

The Dove initiative of which Bryant appears to be a large part aims to "strengthen legal protection against body size discrimination and shift cultural conversations around a broader definition of beauty through education, advocacy and social responsibility."

The soap company is raising concern not about the lethality of being morbidly overweight but about the "likelihood of experienc[ing] name-calling/bullying."

This latest woke initiative is hardly the first for Dove, which routinely blows millions of dollars on radical groups, such as Black Lives Matter, and leftist attempts at social engineering.

Earlier this year, Dove ran an ad celebrating a fat video game character who tossed away armor that had made her appear thin as part of a campaign "to eliminate beauty stereotypes."

The company is not simply fight against traditional beauty standards and to maximize surface area for its products, but also promoting radical gender ideology. In fact, the company was on the bleeding edge of hyping transgenderism, featuring a transvestite pretending to be a mother in a 2017 ad titled "#RealMoms."

Dove is a keen supporter of LGBT activism, "not just during pride month, but every single day."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Elon Musk Couldn’t Fix Twitter Even If He Wanted To

Even after massive layoffs, Twitter has a persistent personnel problem bogging down the platform's user experience.

Dylan Mulvaney Doesn’t Need Corporate Partnerships, He Needs To Hear The Truth

Femininity is a treasure to protect and defend, not an object to possess and pervert. Someone who loves Dylan Mulvaney should tell him that.
Why Businesses Are Going Woke

Why Businesses Are Going Woke

Saudi Arabia Shows Pride Month Corporate Manipulation

Saudi Arabia Shows Pride Month Corporate Manipulation