CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin was taken aback that social media campaigns continue to rip diversity equity and inclusion initiatives out of major companies, with Toyota being the most recent.
During the Oct. 4 edition of Squawk Box, Sorkin expressed his astonishment that political commentator and podcast host Robby Starbuck had driven so much change at many companies. “It’s surprising. Every time this guy goes after them, the companies fold pretty quick,” he said. CNBC anchor Becky Quick also credited Starbuck for the end of DEI at Toyota and a number of other corporations, which cut ties with the radical pressure group Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Sorkin’s remarks came a day after Starbuck announced on on X that Toyota and its subsidiary Lexus had agreed to end “involvement in pride parades, pride events or LGBTQ children’s summer camps.” Starbuck also wrote that the company will no longer “participate in the [HRC’s] woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system.” Moreover, Starbuck noted that Toyota and Lexus agreed to ensure that business resource groups would be open to any employee and would focus on business issues.
In the accompanying video, Starbuck celebrated his “100% strike rate on flipping these companies.” Since June 27, Ford, Molson-Coors, Tractor Supply, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Furman, Stanley Black & Decker, Caterpillar and Lowe’s have stepped away from DEI and the HRC. John Deere has also made some steps in that direction.
Starbuck has succeeded in driving a wedge between these companies and the radical leftist HRC. The HRC’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) rates companies according to a set of radical demands including fully embracing transgenderism, allowing men in women’s bathrooms and offering “healthcare coverage for medically necessary transition-related care.”
The podcast host mocked the rapidly declining LGBTQ+ pressure group and its befuddled president, Kelley Robinson. Starbuck pointed out that Robinson specifically lauded Lexus for showing up the HRC National Dinner on Sept. 7. During an absurd speech, Robinson tried to minimize the significance of so many major companies abandoning her organization by praising the loyalty of companies like Lexus.
I guess not.
Huge news: Last week we exposed @Toyota + @Lexus for going woke and now just one week later they’re announcing BIG changes!
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 3, 2024
Some highlights:
• No more involvement in pride parades, pride events or LGBTQ children’s summer camps.
• They will not participate in the @HRC’s woke… pic.twitter.com/eUp3aBT4wV
A few days after the HRC National Dinner, Robinson spoke to Sorkin on Squawk Box, threatening defecting companies with a 25-point reduction of their CEI score (or as Starbuck calls it their “social credit system”). She also said that Ford was an outlier for ditching the HRC, as “every other major auto manufacturer in this country is participating in the CEI.”
Conservatives are under attack! Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on the dangers of leftist DEI ideology infecting corporate America.
