Conservatives are singling out a major farm supply corporation they accuse of promoting woke internal policies, a stance they claim is hypocritical given their conservative base of rural customers.
Human Events editor Jack Posobiec was the first to call out that the CEO of Tractor Supply, Hal Lawton, has fostered a human resources department that “promotes LGBT training, funds pride and drag events, supports sex changes, and pushes climate activism.”
“Despite their conservative customers, they have a DEI Council, pride decorations, and LGBT events,” Posobiec continued, tagging Lawton on X. The corporate executive has since deleted his account.
Citing what appear to be internal documents, Posobiec points to statements about Tractor Supply’s “Partnership Playbook” which authors offer up as a “road map on how to connect with your local community and be a resource for diversity recruiting efforts that align with our DEI ESG goals set by Hal Lawton, CEO with the support of Executive Leadership.” In a statement on its diversity pledge, the company writes:
“We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive culture supported by our Mission & Values, where we respectfully foster different perspectives, ideas, and innovative thinking. We know that we are stronger together, and we believe in the authenticity of our Team Members bring to work every day. By focusing on our Team Members first, we know that our customers and communities will be well served. Diversity and inclusion play a key role in moving our business forward.”
Posobiec’s post late night Thursday post has since garnered over 2,000 reposts. Roughly an hour after it went up, a user pointed out that Lawton had made his X account private. As of Friday morning it no longer appears in search results.
The CEO of a $32 billion dollar, publicly traded company locked his Twitter account down 🚩🚩🚩🚩 $TSCO https://t.co/gfISqEAFj0 pic.twitter.com/S9cN7RnA6t
— Banana Republic Justice Swan 🍌 (@TheWuhanClan) June 21, 2024
A growing movement to rein in woke corporate policies, especially those related to issues of race and gender, has been an epicenter of conservative activism in recent years. They have taken on increased urgency since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 where liberal activists demanded that corporations, sports teams, and even individual citizens pledge their allegiance to the movement or face public callouts and cancellation. In response, conservatives have stepped up their efforts to boycott companies who fell in line. Among the victims: Bud Light, which partnered with a transgender influencer; Skittles, after the brand covered their candy bags with transgender cartoons; and Netflix, which promoted a show where a young boy is encouraged to dance around in a ballerina tutu while he two fathers look on proudly.
Earlier this week conservatives notched another win after Project Veritas released video of a vice president at Disney claiming he and other white men were being held back from promotions due to race. Michael Giordano, an attorney with the company, claimed he has been told by human resources personnel that he will never be promoted for the foreseeable future and in some cases other biracial individuals who did not appear traditionally Black were looked over for promotions. Giordano has since deleted his LinkedIn account.
There prices are outrageous now I’m done