Ford becomes latest company to ‘cower to MAGA weirdo’ and cancel DEI initiatives
The Human Rights Campaign blasted Ford’s decision, and dubbed Robby Starbuck (R) a “MAGA weirdo” (Getty)
in June 2024, right-wing activist Robby Starbuck targeted farming store Tractor Supply over its “woke” LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts. Now, Ford are the latest company to fall victim to his anti-DEI campaign.
Right-wing activist Robby Starbuck, who directed the controversial, gender-critical, anti-LGBTQ+ documentary The War on Children, which has since been removed by Amazon, took to X in June to call out Tractor Supply for their DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives, including: “having Pride month decorations in their office.”
The impact was significant, with scores of people threatening to boycott Tractor Supply. Clearly buoyed by this “success”, Starbuck has since gone on to target several other companies in a similar fashion.
Four days ago, alcohol giant Jack Daniel’s became the latest business to be targeted by Starbuck, and as a result the whiskey-maker announced that it is dropping its diversity programmes, amid complaints from anti-LGBTQ+ right-wingers.
Home improvement business Lowes has also announced an end to its participation in surveys for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), as well as by combining employee groups into one umbrella organisation and ending support for “festivals, parades and fairs” – arguably meaning Pride events.
In a post shared on X/Twitter, Starbuck claimed that he contacted executives at the chain “to let them know I planned to expose their woke policies” and subsequently “woke up to an email where they pre-emptively made big changes.”
It’s not just Robby Starbuck: President Donald Trump has also been highly critical of DEI initiatives and Project 2025 – the extreme-right wing policy group The Heritage Foundation’s vision for a second Trump administration – repeatedly takes aim at DEI initiatives in the executive branch and federal agencies.
Other brands that have axed or scaled back their DEI programs meant to boost racial, LGBTQ+ and ethnic representation at workplaces recently are John Deere, Indian Motorcycle, Polaris and Harley Davidson.
It seems that the trend is continuing, as car manufacturer Ford said on Wednesday (28 August) that it plans to change its diversity, equity and inclusion program, including ending participation in an LGBTQ+ advocacy group’s ranking system, Fast Company reports.
“We are mindful that our employees and customers hold a wide range of beliefs, and the external and legal environment related to political and social issues continues to evolve,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a memo.
He also said the company would focus on taking care of employees and customers “versus publicly commenting on the polarising issues of the day.”
Like Lowes, Farley confirmed that Ford has decided to stop participating in some external culture surveys, including one put together by LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.
The HRC strongly condemned Ford’s backtracking in a tweet, writing: “Today Ford ABANDONED its values and commitments to an inclusive workplace, cowering to MAGA weirdo Robby Starbuck.”
Robby Starbuck, unsurprisingly, also took to X to celebrate his latest “victory”, writing: “Big news, we were in the middle of investigating woke policies at Ford, but this morning Ford confirmed to me that they’re making changes.” He also described how various companies were folding under pressure as a falling “house of cards.”
He added: “This isn’t everything we want but it’s a great start. We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organisations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose.”
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